Debarasser
by 0ranos
Summary: A crossover fic between the TV show and the Movie. Post-Movie Renton and Eureka accidentally find themselves in Neverland- TV Renton and Eureka's world. After a year of waiting, FINALLY FINISHED!
1. The Long and Winding Road

Renton smiled and wiped some of the sweat from his face. He shielded his eyes from the sun as he watched Eureka step around the construction towards him.

"Renton! Water," she smiled back at him broadly, holding out a bottle.

"Thanks, Eureka." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and took a quick swig. But, he had to turn back to his work. At the moment, he was building a wall. He had all the materials he needed, and help from a few of the surviving scientists down at the base who had lived through The Flood, it was just hard in the hot sun that shone overhead.

He stepped back for a moment to admire his work. Their house. His and Eureka's. At the moment, it looked a bit lopsided and wasn't even close to being finished. But that was fine. He was at the Warsaw hill with Eureka, and that was all that mattered.

"Hey, Renton!" came a voice from the far side of the soon-to-be house. It was Lucas, one of the men who had volunteered to help him and Eureka out.

"Yeah?" Renton asked, stepping over a pile of building materials to shake hands with Lucas. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," said Lucas. "Just that me and the others are gonna head back to the base real quick. Gotta get the new glass for the window panes."

"Oh," Renton said. "Cool. I guess I'll just keep working on the structure of this wall, then."

"Yeah. We've got the base of the interior pretty much set up. Just need you to check on it."

"Thanks, Lucas. See you soon."

Renton saw Lucas and a couple other of the guys leave the worksite. He wouldn't want to make the long walk in the heat like this, but that was their choice.

Speaking of the sun, he looked over at Eureka. She was kneeling down in the grass, playing with a ladybug she had found. She had chosen a beautiful white outfit today. She had taken to wearing clothes fairly quickly.

Renton felt, just for a moment, tears sting his eyes. If she had been able to go out in the sun before, what might she have done? What might they have done?

Then he smiled. She had sacrificed her personality so that they would have time together. And he was thankful for that: so thankful, it made his heart want to burst open. But still, he couldn't be faulted for wondering how things might have been, right? Eureka probably would have called him an idiot right about now. He wiped the tears from his eyes. She was right. He was happy, with her. That was what was important.

Renton felt a hand on his arm. Looking around at Eureka, he saw she was pointing behind them.

"What's that?" she looked at him plaintively, her bottom lip sticking out just a little bit. Renton wasn't entirely sure how much of everything she understood yet. She might have been pointing toward a bird, or a stray battleship, although those were rarely around anymore.

"I don't know Eureka, what is it?" he asked, turning around. Eureka looked beautiful today, with her hair tied back in a ponytail that reached all the way down her back. She had never wanted to cut her hair, which was fine, because he didn't want her to either. Although, if she did, he would have been fine with it. It just... would've reminded him of before.

"I don't see..." he started, looking around. But then he stopped. There, just off the horizon, was a shape he recognized.

"Green," Eureka said under her breath. She latched on to Renton's shoulders from behind, and tried to make soothing motions. Perhaps she could tell he was... agitated.

"Eureka," he said. He turned around, making sure she was listening to him. Although, generally, she was pretty good at paying attention to him. He loved her... so much. Renton shook his head. He had to get her safe.

"Eureka," he began again, "you need to go down to the checkpoint between here and the Warsaw base."

She looked at him a bit confusedly.

"Check-point?"

Renton nodded his head. He mimed the shape of the small lodge, and it's garden.

"Checkpoint, lodge, flowers, garden, windows."

At window she lit up. She had been most excited to discover them at first, running in and out of the lodge to see through both sides.

"Window... lodge!" she grinned, clearly glad to have figured it out.

"Yes Eureka. Now go there. Fast." He made a running motion with his arms.

She looked at him woundedly. "I don't want to go," she said.

"Eureka, please," Renton pleaded. "It's important."

Something in his tone must have convinced her, because, with a final glance back at Renton, she stepped around the construction site and then started running in the opposite direction.  
Renton let out a sigh of relief. He would protect her, no matter what. At least it was getting easier to communicate with her. She had made a lot of progress in only a few months.

He looked back at the looming Gekko, and noticed he had tightened his grip on the trowel he was holding. What did they want?

Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

..............................................

"Hey, Eureka?"

"Yes Renton?"

Renton looked out at the sight before them. The sun was just rising, casting rays of fresh light over the verdant valley. Several glistening waterfalls reflected the new sun, their faint sound reaching his ears.

He looked over at Eureka. She was still watching sunrise over the valley, her face completely still, calm, at peace.

Renton felt all those words could describe him as well. He brushed some of her lengthening hair off of her shoulder. She leaned into him, holding his hands in her lap.

There was another word that described them. In love.

"Yes Renton?" she asked again, slightly tilting her face up into his. He kissed her. He couldn't help it. The sun was playing slightly off of her face, her eyes sparkling. It was slightly awkward, kissing her upside-down, but nothing they hadn't done before.

"I was going to say that... maybe we should go back pretty soon."

She smiled. "I was thinking the same thing, Renton. Maurice, Maeter, Link and everyone else is probably missing us by now. I think it's time that we went back to our family."

"Right," Renton said. He laid back on the ground. "I wonder how Holland and everyone else is doing."

"We should go find out," Eureka said, laying down beside him.

The both looked up at the artificial sky of the Earth in silence for a while, just enjoying the sounds of the Earth.

"Yeah."

"Renton?"

"Yeah, Eureka?"

"How are we going to get back?"

Renton blinked.

"I... really don't know."

Eureka smiled at him. "That's alright," she said. "I'm sure you'll figure out something. You always come up with a way, Renton."

Renton smiled back. "That's right."

He kissed her again. It was still the same as the first time, he felt the same euphoric feeling of sheer happiness and contentment.

He wondered how his grandfather was doing.

Well, it was time to find out.

…................................................

Holland Novak looked out through the bridge's segmented windows. The mountain here was pretty. He could see why the kid – no, Renton – would want to live here. In fact, he felt just a little bit of jealousy of the nice set-up they had here. Only an hours walk down to the ocean, too. Of course, everyone these days had an ocean view.

He felt someone's eyes on the back of his neck. Leaning back in the command chair, he looked up to see Talho looking down at him. She was up on the observation level, as usual. She hardly ever seemed to be in charge of the ship anymore. Of course, she did have other pressing duties.

"How's Wendy/" he asked her.

"Oh, she's fine. She fell asleep a little while ago. She loves that crib that Lady Coda gave us."

Holland grimaced. "You know I'm still uncomfortable with her being so kind to us. It doesn't make any sense to me why she would do it."

"Look Holland," Talho sighed, clearly exasperated with her husband. "After she came over to ask us stuff for that book she's writing, she asked me if there was anything I needed for the baby. She was really taken with her, you know."

Holland reached a hand behind his head, and slumped in his chair. "Yeah, I know all that. But still... she's kind of creepy. And old."

Talho smiled. "You know, pretty soon we're gonna look a lot like her."

"Not all that soon," Ken-Goh spoke up from the front. "Remember what Mischa said."

"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't change the fact that we're still aging faster than normal."

"But not as fast as we were, right?" Gidget added. "That's got to count for something."

"Gidget's right," Woz said from the side. "We've all accepted what we've got. There's no point in brooding over it."

"It doesn't matter."

Everyone looked at Holland.

"It doesn't matter," he continued, "as long as we use the time we have, then we don't have anything to complain about. We're still human beings. My... daughter proves that. I think we should be thankful for what we've been given. And that's why we're here."

Everyone nodded.

Holland closed his eyes. It was one of the few things left on his list of stuff to do. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to finish it.

"Hey, guys?"

Holland opened his eyes again, sitting up in his chair. He folded his arms.

"What, Moondoggie?"

"Where are we gonna land? There's construction stuff all over the place."

Woz spoke up. "There's a pretty clear landing area over by the lodge a little bit down the mountain."

Holland nodded.

"Do it."

…..............................................

Renton was running, his breath coming in short, quick gasps. His lungs felt like someone was stabbing a knife into him repeatedly. The mountain air was not made for running. His shoes flung dirt behind him as he ran.

They had just flown over him! The bastards, they had known all along where he would send Eureka. They must have planned the whole thing out. Come to think of it, maybe they had even timed it so that Lucas and the others would be gone! Or maybe they were all in league with each other? He didn't know. He didn't care. He just ran.

What did they want her for this time, anyway? He didn't know.

He only knew one thing. He had to protect Eureka.

He could see the Gekko below him. They had landed in a large, flat area. The grass there was now crushed. He had forgotten how big the ship was. It dwarfed the tiny checkpoint lodge. But it didn't matter.

He could see figures. One looked like the Commander. With a final burst of speed and a yell, he threw himself at the taller man.

They both sprawled to the ground. Renton could hear voices around him, but they didn't matter. This man was responsible for so many of the bad things that had happened to Eureka. This man was responsible.

Renton punched him in the face.

He felt a restraining hand on his arm. He pulled free, and threw another punch. The other man didn't even try to protect himself. He just laid there and took it. It made Renton angry.

"You... bastard!"

He felt someone grab him. They wrapped their arms around his chest, tried to pull him up. Then he felt tears on his shoulder. That made him pause. He looked around to see Eureka hugging him, trying to pull him away, making indistinct sounds.

"Renton! No!" she said, looking at him tearfully. "Don't... don't!"

"Eureka..." he stared. He looked at her. She didn't remember this. She didn't remember the Commander, the Gekko. Nothing.

He found he had stood up. Eureka buried herself in his arms, mumbling into his shirt. He put a hand around her. He felt strange. Disconnected.

He looked around, only now recognizing people he had gotten to know during his time on the Gekko. There was Mr. Matthieu, Ken-Goh, Talho, Misha, and a couple others he couldn't quite remember the names of.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked. For some reason, he couldn't really feel all that angry at them anymore. Eureka wouldn't like it.

"You make a guy feel real welcome, Renton."

Renton turned around. Commander Holland had gotten up. He was wiping some blood from his nose on his pants.

"What do you want with Eureka?" Renton demanded.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I said nothing."

"No. I wouldn't"

He didn't know what the Commander was getting at. What was his game?

Talho walked over. She put a hand on his shoulder. Renton looked at her. He had never really had anything against Talho. She looked older, but not as much as he had imagined she would.

"Can we all go inside that lodge?" she asked kindly.

Eureka reached out a hand and traced the pattern of the flower on Talho's cheek. Talho looked at her confusedly for a moment. Then she blinked, putting up an uncertain smile. Eureka smiled back broadly.

"Flower... pretty," Eureka said.

Renton interjected. He realized, as much as he didn't trust these people, they had a lot to talk about.

"Let's... let's all go inside."

He and Eureka walked up the steps to the front of the lodge. Eureka still hung close to him. He could tell she was uncertain if he was alright or not.

He looked into her eyes, and smiled.

"It's alright. I'm O.K," he reassured.

She grinned and kissed him on the cheek. He opened the door to the lodge, holding her close. He didn't care what the Gekko wanted with Eureka. He wasn't going to let them have it.

He walked in to the lodge, opening some of the windows to let in the air, and light. It was a little bit stuffy in the small room. It wasn't always occupied. In fact, it was generally all closed up. Eureka plopped down on a small couch in the main room. Renton wanted to join her.

Commander Holland, and the rest slowly filed in, sitting down on some of the chairs and couches. There weren't enough. The Commander remained standing, leaning against one of the walls. Renton went over to the rusted sink and got him a paper towel for his bloody, slightly twisted nose. Mischa walked over and started looking at it.

Talho started speaking after Renton had got them all drinks of water, and had sat down next to Eureka. She clung close to him, unsure now of all these strangers, probably.

"Look, Renton," she began, "we felt that, after everything that happened, there were some things that were left... unresolved."

"And that we owed you an apology!" said the girl – Gidget?

Renton was taken aback. "An.. an apology?"

"Well," Talho said, "something like that."

Renton clenched his fists. Eureka looked up at him worriedly.

"Renton?" she asked.

"You guys, you think you can just apologize?" He stood up and glared at them all. "You think you can just wave away what you all did with an apology?"

Talho looked down.

"You held us hostage!" he yelled. "You were going to drug me for your own purposes. I got shot!"

"Yeah, but-" Ken-Goh started.

"You took advantage of Eureka!" Renton stalked around the room, pacing. "You planned to use her for your own selfish purposes, even though you knew it would be harmful to the world! Your crew members attacked and assaulted her!"

"That wasn't-" Gidget said.

Renton tried to stop, but tears started coming to his eyes. He pointed at the Commander. "You tried to kill us! When you couldn't get your way, you attacked us, and we would've died if it hadn't been for Eureka and Nirvash. And then... and then they... they both... they left."

He was really crying now. He wished he wasn't. He didn't want them to see him so weak. He didn't want Eureka to see him hurt. He looked toward Commander Holland. The man didn't say anything, just leaned against the wall, staring at the wood floor, arms crossed across his chest.

Renton was about to say something else, but Eureka got up and tried to bring him back towards the couch. He looked at her. She looked scared.

Mr. Matthieu raised a hand.

"Umm... I hate to interrupt, but what happened to the girl.. er... Eureka?"

Renton sat down on the couch again. Eureka's hands tried to wipe away his tears. He looked at her, and covered her hands with his, putting them in his lap. He looked at Mr. Matthieu.

"I told you, didn't I? She left. She sacrificed herself to save the planet. To save me."

"Then who's-"

Renton looked down.

"She's not... not the same person you had on your ship."

Talho looked close to tears herself. Gidget had covered her mouth with both hands. Mr. Matthieu looked confused. Commander Holland had looked up, one eyebrow raised.

There was a long pause.

"This isn't all of you." Renton suddenly realized. "Where's Hilda? And... and the other guys?"

Talho smiled. "Moondoggie's probably asleep at his station, Woz and Jobs are arguing about wind dynamics, and Hilda's taking care of my baby Wendy. "

Renton blinked. Then he started to piece things together, and looked at the Commander. A thought occurred to him, and he looked back at Talho.

"Is it-"

"It'll have the same growth rate as a normal human," Talho smiled. "Thanks for asking."

In spite of himself, Renton couldn't help smiling too.

Talho continued. "She's the reason Holland stopped attacking you."

Renton leaned back in the couch.

"Really?"

Mischa spoke up. "The fact that he had a child brought Holland back to his senses. Isn't that right, Holland?" She looked at him expectantly.

Holland grunted.

"He's not very good at giving apologies," Talho said, smiling.

Renton looked at Eureka. She had been sitting up, listening intently, since she had heard the word 'baby'. She had seen one a month or two ago, and had been intensely interested in it. Renton didn't think she entirely understood what it was, but he could only guess.

"Can we go see the baby?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," Holland said, surprising everyone. "I think she's awake right now."

He turned toward the door, stopping halfway through. He looked back at everyone.

"Well?"

He shrugged, and then closed the door behind him.

"That's our Fearless Leader," Mr. Matthieu muttered under his breath.

"Well, we'd better go follow him," Ken-Goh said.

"Yeah," said Gidget.

They all got up, and left. Talho stood up, and looked at Renton and Eureka.

"Are you coming, Renton?"

Renton looked up at her, then over at Eureka, who looked fairly curious. She clearly could tell something was going on. He looked back at Talho, and stood up.

"Yeah," he said. Eureka stood up with him.

"Yeah," she said. Talho looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

...........................................................................

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

Renton and Eureka stood near one of the giant pillars that existed everywhere around the Earth. But...

"This one's different." Renton said.

"I know."

She held his hand a little worriedly. She could feel something was off. He could tell.

"Are you alright?"

She looked at him and smiled.

"Yes Renton. I'm fine."

Renton thought her wings looked a little down, which generally meant she was feeling confused, but he held off from saying so.

He turned back to the giant pillar. It had to be at least as large around as one of the Coralian storms he remembered. But unlike the ones that he and Eureka had seen elsewhere on their travels, this one just felt... different. He didn't really know how to describe it.

"I think we should go inside," Eureka said slowly.

"Go inside?"

"Yes."

"But, Eureka, these things don't have any way in. We've checked."

"This one does." She pointed.

Renton followed her gaze. She was right. There was what looked like a small opening near the base of the pillar.

"An opening? I wonder who put it there."

Eureka looked at him. "I think we should go in. It feels like it might be our answer to getting back to the others."

"It feels like it?"

"Yeah. Renton, let's go in. If it gets us back to the kids, and everyone else, then we should try it."

Renton was unsure. But he soon found himself walking with Eureka down towards the opening through the scrubby underbrush.

"Hey, Eureka?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been wondering... what you want to do when we get back."

Eureka was quiet for a little bit. Then she smiled.

"After we see the crew of Gekko, and our family, I'd like to talk to Anemone and Dominic. We never really got to talk to them about everything, and they're the only people who can really... understand us."

She looked down. "There are some other things I'd like to do that we haven't done yet-"

Renton blushed.

"-like visit that place you said Charles showed you."

"Oh." Renton felt stupid for a moment. But then he thought of something.

"Where are we going to live, Eureka?"

"I thought we'd live on the Gekko." She looked a little confused. He brushed some of the hair out of her face. They might have kissed then. A short while ago, they would have. But they had been trying to... moderate things a bit in light of seeing everyone again.

"Well, yeah, we could stay there for a while. I want to too. But don't you want to, eventually have someplace that we can really call our own? I met that man whose wife had the desperation disease... or, didn't-"

"You told me about him," Eureka said. "It sounded so nice that they still loved each other, and that he took care of her even when she wasn't able to."

"Yeah," agreed Renton. "And he had built their house with his own hands. It was beautiful."

"Well..." Eureka said. She looked unsure.

"You don't have to say anything now," Renton said, "just think about it."

"OK, Renton."

The brush around them suddenly opened up, and they found themselves staring in the face of an enormous cavern. Renton thought the Gekko would have been able to maneuver in there no problem. Maybe two Gekkos could have fit.

"Is that the hole we saw from far away?" he wondered out loud.

"I think it is," Eureka said.

"But it's so big. I wonder what it was for."

"Let's find out."

She smiled at him.

"Yeah."

They walked under the lip of the cave. It wasn't really all that dark, considering how much light was pouring in through it's gigantic opening.

Renton felt the ground underneath his feet change.

"Wh- stone?"

Eureka stopped when he did.

"What is it, Renton?"

"It feels.... I don't know. Not natural."

"Is that unusual?"

He looked at her, in the light, her hairclip reflected the light, shining golden in her hair.

"Well, yeah," he said.

"But the last cave we were in had a carved floor."

"That was a man-made chamber though, for holding Ms. Sakuya."

"And the one before that, where... where I tried to go back through the Scubs."

"But that was because there was a city built in there."

"Well, maybe a city was built in here."

Renton looked around him. The walls of the cave looked perfectly normal.

"But that's...impossible?"

"Renton, nothing's impossible. The fact that I'm here with you proves that."

She leaned into him. They took a quick kissing break.

Later, when they started walking deeper into the cave, Renton couldn't help but bring it up again.

"I wonder if it's on the remains of one of Earth's cities," he said.

"Renton, look!" Eureka ran over to one of the walls. "There's stairs here!"

"Stairs?" Renton walked over. She was right. A large staircase carved out of the rock.

"I wonder how high it goes?" Eureka wondered. Then she brightened. "Renton, it might go all the way to the surface!"

Renton thought about it, but couldn't find anything wrong with the idea.

"You're right, it might. Let's go up and see."

The staircase was very dark. For some reason though, there started to be glowing crystals at even intervals after a short distance up. It reminded Renton of the light in the cave, where all the LFOs had been dying. He shivered.

"Eureka... this feels weird."

She gripped his hand tighter.

"I know. Let's just see how much farther we can go."

After what felt like several hours, they emerged onto a... platform of sorts. It was a circular room, with the crystals shining brightly. Renton could see the entrance to another staircase leading still further up. He felt worn out, and tired. But if they had to climb more stairs, he would do it. For the his family, and the crew of the Gekko, and most of all, for Eureka, he would do it.

"Renton, there's writing on the walls."

He looked over to where Eureka was standing, close to one of the glowing crystals protruding from the walls.

"What?" he asked.

"Writing, on the walls. Come look."

He walked over to where she was, and saw she was right. All over the walls, there were huddled clusters of writing, in handwriting varied and even in some different languages.  
Renton leaned close to read the nearest one.

"This says 'that Rio Espenada find the cure for desperation disease,' Eureka," he said.

She nodded. "This one over here says 'that Robin Dustael will communicate with the Coralian Control Cluster.'"

"I don't get it," Renton began. "What are these things?"

"They're wishes," she said slowly.

Renton blinked, then looked at the writing again.

"Yeah, Eureka, I think you're right."

He ran his hand over the wall. It felt so smooth to his touch. But also very cold.

"How did these get here?"

"I don't know," Eureka said. "But I don't think many of them came true."

Renton looked over at her. She looked back at him, her eyes sad.

"I don't think any of these came true, Renton."

"Why do you say that?"

"They feel cold, lifeless."

Renton pressed a hand against the wall again. He was surprised when it suddenly gave way.

"Wh-?"

He stumbled, falling flat on his face.

"Renton!" Eureka cried, and rushed to his side. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Renton mumbled. His face hurt, but it'd be fine. He'd suffered much worse. "What was that? The wall just... disappeared."

"Renton..." Eureka was looking around at the walls of the new chamber they were in. It was smaller... but brighter, for some reason.

"What is it?"

"Is that a compact drive?"

Renton sat up. He saw it now, too. On a... pedestal in the middle of the room, was a glowing compact drive.

"Yeah, it is. I wonder what's it's doing here."

Eureka had gotten up, and was staring at the writing on the walls of this new chamber. Renton got up and joined her.

"Renton, these wishes have been granted. I just know it!"

"Huh."

Renton didn't know what exactly was going on. But then he saw something... a handwriting he recognized.

"Hey, Eureka, this is my Sis' handwriting!"

She rushed over to where he was standing.

"Really?"

"Yeah, look. 'That Diane Thurston will be able to find her father.'"

"That's great Renton! That means that these stairs must be the way that people were able to find the control cluster over the years."

Renton felt strange. This place, even if his sister had been here felt... too powerful.

"Maybe we should just keep going up the stairs."

"Sure, in a minute," Eureka said distractedly. She looked around. "I wonder if there's... There's some!"

She rushed over to the far side of the room, and picked something up off the ground.

"Look, Renton! We could write our wishes on the wall too!"

Renton looked at the chalk she held in her hand. If she wanted to do it, then it was fine by him.

"O.K.," Renton said. "Let's do it."

Eureka went over to a blank space on the wall. She started writing, and spoke as she wrote.

"That Renton, and Eureka.... will be able to see Maurice, Maeter, and Linck again... as well as the crew of the Gekko, and everyone we know and love." She signed it, then held out the chalk to Renton.

"I think I should have put 'they' instead of 'we'. But it's O.K. Here, Renton, you should sign it too."

Renton nodded. She smiled.

"Yeah."

He took the chalk, and signed his name.

There was a blinding flash of rainbow light from the compact drive. Renton instinctively protected Eureka with his body, and shielded his eyes. They were both thrown against the wall, and Renton felt like his eyelids were burned through.

It was dark when he opened his eyes. He guessed he needed to readjust.

"Eureka, are you-"

She nodded, smiling up at him.

"Yes, Renton. I'm fine. Thanks for protecting me." She gave him a quick kiss.

He stood up.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"I think we should just keep moving."

"Yeah, I think so too."

After their eyes readjusted, they made their way back over to the next flight of stairs.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to get very tired of stairs?" Renton asked himself.

"Don't worry," Eureka reassured him. "We're going to see everyone again, I just know it!"

They started up the stairs running.

…...................................

Holland leaned against the doorway of Wendy's room. Everyone else was inside, Talho was holding the baby out to Eureka. The blue-haired girl was looking at Wendy like she was the greatest thing in the world.

Holland smiled. He had to admit, Wendy was the greatest thing in the world. He just wondered sometimes how much time he'd have with her.

He really wanted to talk to Renton. It wasn't that he wasn't good at giving apologies - well, maybe he wasn't with some people – but he liked his apologies to be personal. Heart – to – heart. And he wanted the kid to know exactly how he felt.

Quite honestly, he was impressed, and maybe just a little bit jealous of the kid. That Renton had risked everything, almost killed himself to save the girl he loved. Now, he would live a good, long life with her exactly where he had wanted to. It was almost like a fairy-tale.

He shook his head. No. No more fairy-tales. He was done with that kind of bullshit.

"Holland?"

He turned around. Mischa was standing in the hallway.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to say hello to the baby?"

Holland looked back at the room full of happy, bubbling people.

"Looks like they've got it covered."

"I see. You want to talk to Renton."

Holland could see Renton. He was a little apart from everyone else, keeping careful watch over Eureka.

"Yeah. I guess I do."

And, on a spur of the moment decision, Holland beckoned to Renton. The kid looked up.

"Want to take a quick walk with me?"

Everyone looked at him. He hated it when they did that. It made him feel like some sort of time bomb or something. Holland could see the distrust in the kid's eyes; he kind of felt guilty about that. But then Renton slowly nodded, looking over at Talho. How come he trusted her?

"Talho..." Renton trailed off.

Talho looked at the kid a bit exasperatedly.

"Don't worry, Eureka will be fine. I promise."

Looking slightly mollified, Renton moved over to the door, where Holland was.

"Commander, look. I-"

"Just call me Holland."

Renton kind of looked like that might be the last thing he could do. He was about to say something else, too. But Holland cut him off.

"Take a walk with me?"

Renton just nodded.

They walked out of the Gekko in silence. Holland wasn't entirely sure what to say, yet. He thought Renton looked a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't really know what to say to solve that. There was a barrier there.

"Nice place you've got up here," Holland said.

Renton nodded.

"It's a beautiful mountain," he tried again.

Renton just nodded.

"Why'd you choose to live here?"

"We made a promise."

The way he said it made Holland not want to pursue that line further. But Renton spoke first, next.

"Why did you ask me to take a walk with you?"

Holland put his hands behind his head.

"I guess I just wanted you to understand why I did the things I did, and why I know they're wrong now."

"But why? I wouldn't think that my feelings would matter to you."

Holland smiled. This kid just wouldn't let up.

"I'm going to die one day. One day sooner than most people. But not as soon as I thought I would."

Renton looked at him.

"What does that mean?"

Holland shrugged.

"You'd have to ask Mischa for all the details. But basically, the energies released during The Flood acted on our... condition. She says we've got quite a bit longer than we would have hoped for. Still not nearly as long as most people, but longer than we thought."

Renton was silent, looking out at the mountain landscape. Holland continued.

"So, you see Renton? In doing what you did, you not only got rid of the Image, and save the world, but you also saved us. The crew of the Gekko. And that's what I want you to know."

"I didn't do it on purpose," Renton said.

Holland nodded.

"Yeah, but it still happened. And I'm still grateful."

They both heard footsteps. Turning, Holland saw Eureka and Talho running up behind them.

"Renton!" Eureka gasped, and threw herself at him. Holland saw Renton's face go rapidly from confusion, to distrust, to suspicion.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded.

Talho looked at Renton, smiling. She was breathing rather heavily. Holland felt a little twinge of worry, but dismissed it. Talho could take care of herself.

"Nothing. She just saw you weren't around, and decided to chase after you."

Renton's expression changed to guilty. He looked at the girl in his arms. She looked up at him. Holland could tell she was almost in tears.

"Don't go," she pleaded. Renton hugged her close.

"I'm so sorry, Eureka. I promise to never leave you again."

Holland raised an eyebrow. Some commitment, that. The young couple held each other for a moment.

Talho moved over to where Holland was.

"So. Did you say what you wanted to say?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Holland said. That was all Talho needed. She could probably figure out the rest.

He wrapped his arm around her, both of them looking at the younger couple embracing for a moment.

"You know," Talho whispered, "they really are amazing."

"Yeah," Holland agreed.

They all stood there for a while. It was getting close to sunset. The sky was painted shades of orange and purple. It was all pretty beautiful.

Holland saw Eureka's head turn, distracted. She pointed at something off to Holland's right.

"Renton, what's that? Renton?"

He looked over to where she was pointing. It looked like a small flower, glowing in a crazy combination of colors.

Renton looked over.

"Luna-" he started. "But they don't bloom... don't even grow this time of year."

The two pairs were slowly drawn over to where the small flower was blooming. Renton started talking, almost to himself.

"This flower grants wishes. Our Teacher said so. He showed us one, a long time ago. Me and Eureka."

The girl looked up at her name. Renton smiled at her.

"A lifetime ago," he said.

Holland watched the flower. He had heard of it, of course. It was actually in the Ageha mythology in a place or two. But he had never actually seen it.

"I wish," Renton suddenly said, "I... I wish I could have seen how things might have turned out.:

Suddenly, the flower stopped glowing like a rainbow. It just sat there, like any old flower. There was only a split-second warning before it burst open.

There was an explosion of color and light. Holland felt himself thrown back, landing on the ground some five feet away. Talho landed on top of him.

He opened his eyes. He hadn't realized he had closed them.

"Talho..."

"I'm alright," she said.

"No, not that. Renton and Eureka are gone."

It was true. Holland looked around. The field they had detoured into was empty, save for what looked like the remains of the little flower.

"Where did they go?" he wondered aloud.

...........................................


	2. Strange Magic

Birds. There were birds chirping somewhere above. They sounded like the birds back near where the lab used to be at Warsaw.

Wait. No they didn't

Renton opened his eyes and sat up. He might have stood up, but found Eureka laying partway across him. She looked asleep.

Their surroundings were different. Before they had not had any large cities within 30 miles, here Renton could easily see a city maybe thirty minutes walk from where he and Eureka lay.

He looked around. The grassy area around them looked exactly like where they had been before the explosion, except there were a few more trees.

Renton scratched his head. What the heck had happened? Where were they? Where were Talho and the Commander?

A small raindrop dropped on his hand. Looking up, he saw the clouds looked like rain. That couldn't be good. Wherever they were, Renton didn't want to get rained on. He needed to find Eureka shelter.

She looked so peaceful, her head lying just near his chest. He brushed one of her long strands of hair out of her face. Her ponytail had come undone.

"Eureka?" he gently shook her. "Eureka, it's time to get up."

`She stirred, stretched. She gave him a big, yawning smile.

"Good morning Renton!" she said.

Renton gave her a warm hug, looking around at their surroundings over her shoulder. When he pulled back, he tried to explain things to her.

But before he could speak, she did first.

"Where are we?" she asked, an innocent tone in her voice that made Renton want to hug her again.

Renton felt helpless. He had no idea what was going on. He couldn't say that though. He had to be strong for Eureka.

"What I was going to say, Eureka, is that it looks like rain..."

Eureka frowned up at the sky. "I don't like rain," she said.

Renton nodded. "Exactly. And we don't want to get wet," he gestured toward the buildings. "So we need to get up and find shelter."

"OK," Eureka said. She stood up, still looking unhappily up at the rain clouds overhead. Renton stood up, too. He took off his jacket, and handed it to Eureka. What she was wearing was not made for the rain. She took it with a frown.

"But Renton..." she pouted. He gave her a reassuring smile. Sure it was cold in just his black t-shirt, but he would feel better if she had the jacket. Besides, hopefully they'd be indoors before too long.

"Don't worry about me, Eureka," he said. "I'll be fine so long as you are."

She looked down. "Thank-you, Renton."

Did she just blush a little bit? That was weird. Renton didn't think he'd really seen her blush before, at least in response to something she understood. She had always been very... comfortable... with their relationship. He didn't know exactly what to think.

Other things were weird, too. As they walked through what Renton could only assume was a forest, although it might have been a park of some kind, things seemed slightly off. The path they walked on was fairly well-worn, and their were signs placed periodically along the way – although they were too faded and weathered to read.

But that wasn't what bothered Renton. No, what bothered him was certain, small things about the environment around them.

Like the trees. They looked nothing like the trees that were found in Warsaw where _he_ came from. The bark was all wrong, and the leaves a slightly different shape.

"Trees not right," Eureka said, looking around. So she had noticed it too then. Well, it was at least good to know that he hadn't gone crazy. Unless they both had.

"I know. Something's not right."

"Something's not right," she repeated absentmindedly, stooping to look at a flower.

"Come on, Eureka," Renton said. "We've got to reach shelter before it starts to rain."

She looked up at him. "But... Something's not right."

Renton nodded. "I know. But we can figure it out when we get to somewhere dry, and warm."

Eureka stood up with a last look at the flower, and followed Renton again. They walked on for some ways.

It started to rain. Hard.

In the end, Renton found himself sharing the shelter of the jacket with Eureka, both of them huddling close under it. Renton couldn't help but notice that Eureka's cheek felt so warm, so soft.

"You feel nice, Renton," Eureka said softly. She nuzzled her cheeks against his.

Renton thought the heat off his face would vaporize the raindrops as they fell. At least he knew Eureka was back to normal.

A raindrop landed right on Renton's nose. Eureka smiled, and wiped it off with a finger. Renton desperately tried to focus on finding shelter. If they both got pneumonia because of... distractions, he would kick himself.

He looked at the part of the sky he could see from underneath his jacket. What season was this supposed to be, anyway? The trees had all their leaves, but it was fairly chilly. Not only that, but the rain wasn't really that cold. More weirdness.

After a little while longer, Renton felt concrete under his shoes. Looking ahead, he could make out some lights. He looked over at Eureka. She looked very wet, if not unhappy. She was staring at the lights, too, a small pout on her lips.

"Renton, lights," she said, pointing out from under their now completely soaked jacket.

"I know, Eureka," Renton said. "Let's get inside, and out of the rain."

"Yes!" Eureka said enthusiastically, nodding her head. "I don't like rain," she added defensively, after seeing Renton's slightly bemused expression.

They walked up the path of what looked like a small house. Renton rapped his wet knuckles on the door. Fortunately, the door was under an overhang, so they were able to come out from under the jacket for a little while.

A squat, white haired man opened the door, and Renton could feel the heat radiating out. He could see a comfortable-looking room behind the man, and what looked like his wife.

"Yes?" the man croaked. "What do you want?"

"No rain!" Eureka offered, before Renton could open his mouth. She pushed herself closer to Renton, trying to get warm.

Renton tried not to notice the skeptical look on the old man's face.

"Look, we need shelter from the rain-" not wanting to presume on this man's hospitality, he continued "-do you know where we could find some?"

The man shrugged his shoulders.  
"Sure, there's an inn a couple miles up the road, after you get in to the city proper."

"Ah," Renton said. "Well, thanks, I guess."

The man nodded. "Anytime. Nice R & E get-up, by the way," he added, before closing the door.

"Wait, what?" Renton asked, but the old man had already gone. He shook his head. Something was definitely weird. Oh well. At least they knew now where to find shelter, even if it was a couple of miles away.

When Renton turned around to walk back into the rain, Eureka balked. She didn't know why they had to go out in the rain again.

"Um... Eureka," Renton tried to find a way to explain it.

"Why not here?" she asked pleadingly.

"There's.... that's just not..." Renton struggled.

Eureka looked expectantly at him, like she always did, for the answers. Renton momentarily wondered what would happen to her if he wasn't around.

_Well, that's never going to happen. _

"Look Eureka, we just can't. It wouldn't be right," he said firmly, and beckoned for her to step back under the jacket with him.

With a little sigh, and a last longing look at the warm, bright house, Eureka got as close to Renton as she could under the jacket, and the two headed back out into the rain.

...................................................................

"Woz, you're going to tell me exactly what happened. Right. Now," Holland stormed onto the bridge. He hated this kind of magic stuff. He liked things to make sense. He had personally hoped that after the Image had been destroyed, everything would become normal. No more of this magic and other bullshit.

_Normal. Right. _

Woz looked up from a display that was showing what looked like a graph of... something. He had Jobs with him, and it looked like they had been arguing. That couldn't be could. It never was.

"Well," Woz looked at Jobs, who nodded. "We're not really sure what happened."

"Not really-"

Jobs cut him off.

"We're not entirely sure, but we think we have a general idea."

Holland took a deep breath, and slumped into the captain's chair.

"OK," he said, "tell me what you know."

Woz shrugged. "We aren't really scientists or anything-"

"- Not professionals, anyway -" Jobs cut across.

"- but we've been scanning the radiation energy that was released during the explosion -"

"- and we think it shows signs and readings that are fairly similar to those recorded at the Agony of Doha."

"Bullshit."

Holland looked from Woz to Jobs.

"You guys are serious?" he asked. Crap. He should've known something like this would happen, after getting mixed up with all the fairytales and stuff. Shit.

"Very much so," Jobs said. "Not only that, but, if the energy levels are correct, then Renton and Subject Seven... er... Eureka, succeeded where we failed."

"How is that even possible?" Holland asked. A rhetorical question, but one which Woz answered anyway.

"That's where things get fuzzy, Holland. We don't really know. We can only guess. Maybe, if we took this to some other people we know, we could confirm it. But as it is..."

"Yeah, I get it," Holland sighed. "But jeez. Why do these things happen?"

He felt Talho's hand on his shoulder. He reached back and held her hand in his own. Looking up, he saw she was nursing Wendy. Like always, for some reason, the sight of his daughter's fragile face and curly dark hair made him feel stronger. He smiled.

"Uhh... Holland?" Woz asked.

"What?"

"I was just asking you, is there any piece of information we're missing? Anything at all?"

"Well, I don't know," Holland put a hand behind his head.

"Anything they said before it happened?" Gidget put in from the other side of the bridge.

"Now that you mention it..." Holland looked up at Talho. "What was it Renton said? Right before the explosion?"

Talho looked out a window for a moment, her gaze far away.

"He said that he wished he could see what things might have been like," she said, but Holland could tell her mind was elsewhere.

"Talho? Is something wrong?" he asked her.

She looked at him, baby in her arms.

"Holland, are we going to go after them?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes.

"Yeah, why?" he asked. Of course they were. Why would she think otherwise?

"Hey, Leader," Matthieu put in, "would you mind telling us all why?"

"What's with you guys?" he asked, looking at his crew. And there was no doubt about it now, they were _his_ crew. "Of course we're going to go after them. It was partly our responsibility they ended up... wherever they are now... in the first place!"

He looked down.

"And I... would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to them. We've screwed up their lives enough already," he looked at Talho, "and we've got to do something."

She shook her head, a sad smile on her face.

"You've changed," she said. But she didn't look disapproving. The opposite, really.

It was weird. At that moment, Holland felt he could do anything.

"We'll get them back," he said to his crew. "We won't let them pay for our mistakes."

Everyone nodded.

"Hey," he said, looking at Woz and Jobs. "I heard the majority of the Warsaw scientists who survived are in Tresor now. Is that true?"

They both nodded. Holland turned toward the front of the bridge.

"Alright, Moondoggie."

"Yeah?"

"Let's head there."

"Yes, sir."

Holland felt the ship turn. He always loved that feeling, the feeling when the ship responded; it felt almost alive somehow.

Talho knelt next to him. Wendy was done nursing, and looked like she was falling asleep.

Holland held out his hands, and Talho started to slip the baby over, a little hesitantly. Holland normally didn't do a lot of baby holding.

"Don't worry," Holland said, "I've got it."

Talho smiled, giving Wendy over to Holland.

"I know you do," she said.

......................................................

Stoner really wished it wasn't raining. He had a deadline to meet, just a week from now. But, when Captain Jurgens – No, _Chancellor_ Jurgens, he reminded himself – asked him to do a photography job as a personal favor, he just couldn't pass it up. After all, as an observer, it _was _his job to record such things as the election of a new leader. Not to mention, he could do an article on it in Ray=Out. Being the lead editor on the most popular magazine on the planet was a tough job sometimes.

And now, he was stuck in the notorious Warsaw rains that he remembered from back when he lived here. No transportation really got anywhere fast during the rains, if it got anywhere at all. Of course, Stoner's own car was being held by the local police authorities because he had 'vandalized' it. Which was, of course, ridiculous. Painting wasn't vandalism. It was art. And besides, Matthieu had done it for him on his birthday.

He sighed. A military convoy passed by outside of his window, and he halfheartedly took a few pictures of it.

At least Warsaw was looking better. Of course, being the strongest tower-state in the region probably had something to do with that, but Stoner personally thought it had more to do with the people living here having enemies more pressing then themselves.

_I wonder which tower-state we're fighting today?_ Probably Brosendell. The two states had been having some pretty big skirmishes lately.

He lay back on his bed, kicking his muddy shoes off. He looked around at his admittedly kind of luxurious quarters, and felt nothing. He felt disconnected. Disconnected from his room, disconnected from Warsaw, even disconnected from the world in general. He felt like the only people he could possibly talk to right now were the old Gekko crew, and maybe some of the scientists from Tresor.

He didn't really know how he felt about the state of the world right now. On the one hand, there were a lot of promising things happening around the world in terms of science, medicine, and the exploration of the Earth, which effectively doubled the space amount of habitable land on the planet.

But, as Holland said, all that amounted to nothing in the face of all the... stupidity (although Holland had said it in stronger terms)... that was going around right now.

Sometimes, Stoner couldn't help wondering what it would be like if they had a unified world government again. He probably wouldn't like it. Large governments required oppressive means to stay in power. But, he couldn't help but wonder.

He turned a couple of times on top of the still-made bed. He doubted he'd get any sleep. He absentmindedly wondered if he could get some good pictures of the nearby forest in the rain. Except that he had done that yesterday.

Normally, he would have gone for a smoke right about now, but he was attempting to give it up. Apparently, it would help his public image. That's what people told him, anyway. Maybe that was why he felt so uncomfortable.

If so, then screw his public image. But, no, he probably shouldn't

Maybe he could pay a military convoy to take him out of here. Of course, that would feel like sleeping with the enemy. Stoner didn't think he could do that. They probably wouldn't take his offer, anyway.

That was it. He was going downstairs.

Stoner put on his shoes again, grabbed his camera, and put on his hat. Stepping outside his room, he almost wondered if he really needed to close the door. It wasn't like there was anything valuable with him, other than what he had on him. Everything else in there was just stuff.

_But_, he figured, _one must obey the customs of society, even if that society is lost and seriously confused. _

He walked down the stairs, arriving in the lobby/ lounge of the inn. It wasn't a very impressive place, only cost a couple of bucks a night for the low end rooms. But Jurgens had said this was the best place for him to stay, so he got the only suite in the house.

_Hooray. _

Wow, he really felt grouchy today. He wondered what Matthieu was doing. Probably something stupid and life-threatening. Stoner smiled to himself.

Pausing in the middle of the lounge, he looked for something to do. There was absolutely nothing. He walked to the equally bored-looking guy at the front desk.

"Hey," Stoner said. The guy looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"Is there anything to do around here?"

The guy shrugged.

"If there was, don't you think I'd be doing it?"

"Really? Nothing at all?"

The guy picked up a clip-board, flipping through it briefly. He stopped on one page, squinting to read it.

"Well," the guy said. He had a huge adam's apple. Stoner kind of wanted to take a picture of it. "There is some kind of discount-type-thing over in the brunch building."

"Which is..."

The guy made little direction gestures with his hands as he spoke. "Out the doors, down to the left a little bit, around the building, and by the pool. It's attached to the other lounge-lobby-thing. Oh, and I'm supposed to tell you it's open 24 hours now."

Stoner raised an eyebrow at that.

"A brunch place that's open all day?"

The guy shrugged.

Stoner did too, then tipped his hat in thanks, and walked out the door.

He was soaked through in about fifteen seconds; fortunately, that was about how long it took to get to the adjacent building. The only difference between this building, and the one he was staying at was that this one was bigger, flashier, and generally more visible. It had a big neon sign which Stoner couldn't make out because it was turned off at the moment. Still, with all the light pouring out of the windows, Stoner thought the neon sign was a bit unnecessary.

This lobby looked more comfortable than his, too. The woman at the desk was also more attractive than the guy at his. Why was he staying at his building and not this one? Oh, right. Because he hadn't wanted all that many people to deal with. He had found being surrounded by crowds was not his thing _after _he became internationally renown.

He had tried to get away. And now, he was stuck. How ironic.

He stepped up to the desk. The woman looked up at him. Jeez, she was good looking.

"Is the brunch room open right now?"

She nodded. Stoner kind of wanted to talk to her more, but felt like he shouldn't. She really looked too young for him, anyway.

"Thank you," he said politely, and walked over to the door into the eating area.

He sat down at a stool near their bar – who knew a brunch place would have a bar?- and ordered a sandwich and a drink. A very strong one. He felt like he wouldn't be so bored if he got horribly drunk. Hopefully not, anyway. There were three other guys at the bar, not counting the two guys behind the bar, one who had a lady on the arm. By the look of the guy, Stoner felt sorry for her. In fact, the guy's mustache was so outrageous, Stoner took his waterproof camera out of his jacket and took a picture of the pair over his shoulder.

When the guy came back, he handed Stoner the food, and a glass, as well as a napkin. The napkin looked weird. Stoner rotated it around on the bar; it looked like a picture.

A very familiar picture.

"What's this?" he asked the barkeep.

The guy came over.

"What's what?" he asked.

"This napkin?" Stoner asked, holding up the napkin, bearing the picture of a couple on a longboard... a picture that Stoner had taken.

The guy shrugged. "Hey, give me a break, it's the first anniversary of the Second Summer of Love. Those two aught to be remembered with more than napkins. It's not my problem if you don't like 'em."

Stoner blinked.

_Anniversary? _

He checked his mental calendar. He had arrived on Sunday the 21st... and been here how long exactly? Stoner did a few quick calculations in his head.

"You know what?" Stoner asked the barkeep.

The guy looked at him, a bit annoyed. "What?"

"You're right. It is the first anniversary. Go figure."

"Of course I'm right," the guy said. "It's a national holiday. Not for me, of course. But the Chancellor declared it just the other month. Where were you?"

Stoner shrugged. Probably in his room, or out taking pictures.

"Somewhere," he replied.

The barkeep turned back to his work.

Stoner scratched his head under his hat. Wow. A whole year. He'd have to contact everyone, see how they were doing.

But still, there was one thing that bothered him.

Renton and Eureka weren't back yet. Sure, they could take all the time they wanted doing whatever it was they were doing; quite honestly, Stoner had never really expected to see them again. But he didn't think Holland was right. He didn't think Renton and Eureka had left with the Other Half; it just didn't feel like something they would do. Stoner just worried about their kids. He hadn't seen Maurice, Maeter and Linck in a while now, but he knew they couldn't be doing great without their parents.

Maybe he'd talk to Hap about it, next time he got into contact with him. He didn't think Holland would listen to him. Always either too busy with all the stuff he was doing these days, or with baby Charles.

_Oh well. They say parenthood takes all of one's attention away from everything else. _

But, of course, that still didn't explain how Holland managed to be diplomat, captain of the Gekko, and – although rarely these days – ace LFO pilot while being a father.

He wondered what Talho thought about everything. Really though, he could guess. She supported Holland in whatever he did, so long as it didn't risk his life.

Stoner smiled at some memories. Memories of a while ago. Sometimes he regretted leaving the Gekko. But, it wasn't like he didn't contact them as much as he could. And, after everything that happened, he didn't think he could have just stayed on the Gekko. He would have felt like... he would have felt useless.

"Hey, guy, are youz gonn-a eat thhhat?" a guy asked blearily from down the bar.

Stoner belatedly realized he hadn't touched what he'd ordered.

"You could have the sandwich," he offered.

The bar partitioner made a disgusted face, and turned away from Stoner, who shrugged, and took a bite out of his sandwich.

He had almost finished when he faintly heard the woman at the front desk speaking through the door.

"Wow, you two really _are _soaked. Such a shame, too. Those are _really _good costumes."

Stoner rolled his eyes. Whoever had just arrived was obviously wearing Renton and Eureka costumes. It had been cute the first couple times, but Stoner had thought that the fad had gone away. Probably in celebration of the first anniversary.

"Do you have any change of clothes?" Stoner could hear the woman continue. "No? Oh... um... hold on a minute."

The door opened, and in walked the woman.

"Hey, Bill?" she asked. The barkeep turned toward her.

"What, Amy? Is somebody chatting you up again?"

She blushed, looking around quickly at the bar to see if anybody was listening. Stoner just payed attention to his sandwich, and soon, he hoped, his drink.

"No," Amy continued, "it's just that there's this really cute couple out there, and they're soaked to the bone. They say they don't have a change of clothes, and I was wondering if there's any lying around."

The barkeep put down the rag he had been using to wipe the bar, and scratched his head.

"Well..." he said, "if they really need it, I think we do have some spare sweat clothes from the gym, but I'd bet anything they're way too big."

"Trust me," Amy said, "any clothes will be fine. They're wearing stuff that looks like it was made for a different climate, even. The girl's wearing a sundress, and the guy's just in a black t-shirt. Oh, but they look so cute together."

She hurried off, Bill's eyes following her as she walked away. Then he smiled, and went back to wiping his bar.

Stoner vaguely wondered what kind of kids would be caught out in this weather in a sundress and t-shirt. But, it wasn't really his business.

Still, it might mean they had just arrived from another tower-state, and Stoner was dying for news from the outside world. He decided that he might as well go see them. He really had nothing better to do.

He got up, and went into the lounge, and saw the young couple in the Renton and Eureka outfits. Then, he realized these outfits weren't obvious, like the others. And they both looked taller; older. Not only that, but Eureka's hair was long. Really long, like she hadn't cut it in a....

A light went on in his brain.

"You're back!" he said to them, grinning from ear to ear. He was about to take a picture, but the next thing he knew, he was being held against a wall by a very angry looking Renton.

"Uh...Renton?" Stoner asked.

"What the hell is going on here?" Renton asked.

"Uh..." Stoner was speechless. His mind needed a little time to catch up. He saw the long-haired Eureka spring over and try to pull Renton back.

"No Renton!" she cried.

Renton turned on her, still holding Stoner to the wall. "Stop it, Eureka! You have no idea what he did to you!"

"I..." Stoner stuttered. "I did... what?"

Before Renton could answer, Bill came out of the bar.

"Cut it out!" he yelled, and pulled the two apart.

Renton tried to get at Stoner again, but Bill had them both by the neck, and shook them hard.

"Now," Bill said slowly, as if talking to small children. "I'm going to make this easy for you. You're both going to tell me what happened, and then I'm going to decided whether to throw you out or not."

He looked at Renton, who was still glaring at Stoner. Stoner had never seen him so angry before. And at him. Why? He looked over Renton at Eureka. She looked... confused, lost. And, Stoner noted, like she had never seen him before.

Renton had asked him what was going on, but he just wanted to know himself.

"Let's start with you, kid," Bill said, and shook Renton a little bit.

`Renton spoke through gritted teeth. "This guy tried to... assault my girlfriend. A while ago."

Bill's eyebrows raised. He turned to Stoner.

"Is that true, buddy?"

Stoner answered by reflex. He didn't really know what he was saying anymore, anyway. Just trying to figure out what was happening.

"No!" he said. "He must have me confused with someone else. I would never assault Eureka."

"See?" Renton said. "He knows who she is. Why would he know who she is if I was lying?"

Bill rolled his eyes. "Everybody knows who she is, kid. And let me guess. You're 'Renton.'"

Now it was Renton's turn to look confused.

"What?" he asked foggily.

Bill shrugged.

"Everybody knows who you're supposed to be," he looked over at Eureka. "Even if your interpretation is a bit... different."

Then, he shook them both a little bit to get their attention back. Or maybe just because it was fun. Stoner couldn't tell.

"Good," he said. He turned to Stoner. "Now. I'm going to assume this is a misunderstanding, and I better be right. Or else, I'm going to have the cops, military, and God only knows what on your ass so fast...." he trailed off.

Stoner nodded. "Yeah, sure. Misunderstanding."

Bill grunted. He turned to Renton.

"And you," he said threateningly. "If you touch this guy again, I'll beat you up and leave you in the rain."

Stoner stole a glance at Eureka. She looked like she was close to tears. But not... not from what was being said? It looked like she was upset because she didn't understand what was going on. And... she hadn't talked this whole time, except for trying to stop Renton. Curiouser and curiouser.

Bill let go of them both, and gave them a little shove. Grunting his dismissal, he went back into the bar, where Stoner could see several heads pointed their way.

After the door closed, Stoner looked at Renton. Or at least, he thought it was him.

"You're," he said, "...you're not really Renton, are you?"

Renton had gone over and wrapped himself around Eureka, who had buried her head in his chest. He looked over at Stoner, distrust plain in his eyes.

"How come everyone knows who we are?"

Stoner nodded. Alright, so this Renton didn't know about being famous.

"This is going to sound a little weird," Stoner said, "but you're a celebrity, Renton. You and Eureka both"

Renton looked down at Eureka, and then shook is head, uncomprehending. "I... no. I don't know what's going on."

Stoner really wished he had a smoke right now. He scratched under his hat.

"Look," he said, "do you two have a place to stay for the night? It's already dark."

Renton shook his head. "No. We were hoping to find somewhere we could stay here."

"Bad rain," Stoner heard come muffled from Eureka. All he could see was the back of her head.

He shrugged. "I've got a big room. You guys should stay there for the night. We can... sort things out more in the morning."

Before Renton could answer, Amy walked into the room, a bundle of clothes in her arms, and an umbrella. Seeing Stoner, she stopped.

"Are they... with you, sir?" she asked, although Stoner thought she looked a bit skeptical.

He nodded. "Yes, they are. They're staying with me for the night. We just got mixed up as to which building to meet in." He took the clothes, and handed them to Renton.

"There's a changing room nearby," Amy said.

Renton looked at the clothes in his arms, then back at Amy. "Thank you."

Stoner smiled at the woman. "Yes. Thanks."

He turned to leave, beckoning Renton and Eureka to follow. Eureka looked at Renton, who showed a half-second of indecision, and then followed him. Stoner noticed that the dynamic between Renton and Eureka seemed different. He couldn't really say anything for sure, though.

Right before he was out the door, Renton and Eureka in tow, Stoner heard Amy calling after them.

"Wait!" she said, running up to Renton and Eureka. She handed them a fairly large umbrella. "I almost forgot this. She gave Eureka a warm smile, and then went back to her desk. Eureka looked at the umbrella like it was about to come alive.

"Here, Eureka," Renton said, taking the umbrella. He opened it, causing Eureka to let out a little gasp.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"An umbrella."

Eureka mouthed the word _umbrella _a couple times. Stoner felt a bit like he had just gone through the looking glass.

"Uh..." he said, at a loss for words. He finally managed to get out a "My room is this way," and walked out into the downpour. Even with his hood on, he felt like he had just jumped into a lake. He saw Renton and Eureka cuddled under the umbrella, and faintly wondered why he didn't have one..

The walk up to his walk was uneventful, except for the fact that Stoner could feel Renton's eyes boring into the back of his neck. Stoner shivered. Something was very, very wrong here.

"Why do you have a suite?" Renton asked while Stoner was unlocking the door.

Opening the door and entering the room, Stoner shrugged.

"A random series of events that eventually led to fame and material wealth," he said absentmindedly.

He set his camera on the counter in the suite's kitchen. He looked behind him as Renton and Eureka entered the room. Renton walked in slowly and stiffly, and Stoner thought he was probably looking for anything dangerous. Eureka, on the other hand, looked in awe at the room.

What was with her? It was like she had... amnesia? Maybe she did. Maybe Renton did too. Stoner could only guess. All the same, if he had to place bets right now, Stoner would say they just weren't the same Renton and Eureka he had known.

He sat down on his bed, while Renton stayed standing. Eureka jumped around the room, looking at various things in the room, poking others, her eyes as big as saucers. When she got to Stoner's camera and held it up by the strap at arm's length, clearly unsure of what it was for, he couldn't help but be bemused, no matter confused about the whole situation he was.

Renton just stood there, staring at Stoner with an icy gaze. Stoner realized they needed to change, and gestured to the master bathroom.

"Go ahead and get out of your wet clothes, Renton; Eureka too." He tried to sound hospitable.

Eureka looked to Renton expectantly. Renton nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Eureka, you go first," he said. She smiled at both him and Stoner, and then took the clothes into the large room, closing the door behind her.

The room was dead silent for a long moment. There were muffled sounds of changing and drying from inside the bathroom, but nothing else. Renton glared at Stoner. Stoner tried to look everywhere but Renton.

"Renton?" came Eureka's voice from inside the bathroom.

Renton walked over to the door.

"Yes, Eureka?"

"What's this?"

Renton opened the door just a crack, and with one final glare, went inside, shutting the door behind him. Stoner sighed.

"Oh, that's a blow-dryer..."

They continued to talk to each other in the other room. Stoner took the time to do something he knew he needed to do.

He activated the display and comm system next to his bed. He tapped in Holland's number.

Holland's face soon appeared on the screen. He didn't look to well. Tired, with small bags under his eyes, and fairly unshaven. He yawned.

"Stoner? What is it?"

"What happened to you?" Stoner asked.

"A baby," Holland said.

"Ah, right."

"Why'd you call? What time is it?" Holland yawned again, making Stoner yawn, too.

"It doesn't matter what time it is, Holland. You need to come over here right away."

"What?" Holland looked displeased. "Why? You know I can't just-"

"It's about Renton and Eureka."

Holland immediately looked three times more awake.

"What? Have you found them?"

"Well.... sort of."

"Stoner, you're not making any sense. Have you found them or not?"

Stoner sighed, and scratched behind his neck.

"Look, Holland. It's complicated...I think. You're not going to make it any easier for yourself by asking me questions right now. Just get over to the coordinates I'm sending you as fast as you can."

Holland tried to get in one more question.  
"Are they with you right now?" he asked.

"Yes," Stoner said, and shut off the display.

"....and no," he said to no-one in particular.


	3. Heartbreak Hotel

"Renton, I think there's light up ahead."

"I see it too. I wonder where we're going to end up?"

"Oh, I hope it's Bellforest! I really want to get to know your grandfather; it's so amazing how one person had such an impact on who you turned out to be!"

Renton smile was two parts happy, and one part embarrassed.

"Well," he said, "he certainly has a strong character."

They were almost done with their long, difficult journey. Renton knew it. The stairs had almost leveled out, and had become a wide, smooth tunnel. The glowing crystals in the rock, that looked suspiciously like compact drives, still lit the way.

Renton walked carefully, looking down every so often to make sure he didn't trip on any loose or rough terrain. But so far, that hadn't been a problem. Everything was completely smooth. Almost machine-worn.

At the least, he held Eureka's hand. If one of them tripped, the other would probably be able to stop the fall.

"It really is amazing," Eureka said after a while. She was silent for a moment, obviously thinking about something. She had been doing a lot of that recently. It was true, she was more open nowadays, and spoke her mind, but there were still times when she was completely silent. Then, Renton wasn't entirely sure if he could tell what she was thinking.

"Hey Renton?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think the kids stayed with everyone on the Gekko, or went to live with your grandfather? Those are the only two things I could see Holland doing, but I wonder which one?"

Renton thought for a moment.

"Well, you already know that I'd prefer it if they went to live with my grandpa."

Eureka nodded.

"But, if it's a matter of what I think Holland would do, I've got to say I don't know. Holland is..." Renton couldn't think of a word.

"Unpredictable?" Eureka offered. Renton nodded.

"Sure, unpredictable. But it's even more than that, really."

"I know. I've said the same thing. I think they probably went to go live with your grandfather, Renton. I think that that's what Holland would do. Or at least, what Talho would probably say."

"Yeah."

They walked, hand-in-hand for a long time in companionable silence. Renton really could see the light at the end of their tunnel, although it looked more like a reflection of moonlight. It would have been almost pitch-black in the passage, if not for the crystals along the way.

"Wherever we end up," Eureka said jokingly, "I hope there aren't any stairs."

Renton groaned. The stairs had been.... arduous. They had taken both he and Eureka the better part of two days. They couldn't really sleep on the stairs, so had taken a long nap when they arrived at the tunnel. His calves still burned a little bit.

"There's still something I wonder about," Renton said, more to himself than Eureka.

"What's that, Renton?"

"If this tunnel was here the whole time, than how come nobody found it?"

Eureka looked at him.

"But people did find it. Your sister found it. I'm sure lot's of the people we saw in the Control Cluster found it."

Renton shook his head. "But that's not what I mean. Why didn't everyone find out about it? You'd think, after people went missing, there would be a search, or something."

Eureka thought for a moment, looking down at the ground. She wasn't really in clothes for the sometimes chilly tunnel, so Renton he loaned here his jacket a while back.

"Well," she said, looking up, "was there a search party for you sister?"

Renton grimaced.

"Not really," he said, a little angrily. "Everyone just assumed she had ran away with some guy. Although, now that I think of it, they might have been referring to Holland."

"I was thinking," Eureka continued, "that maybe, the people who find this tunnel, and the Cluster, might only be people who the Control Cluster could tell wouldn't be missed."

"But _I_ missed my sister!" Renton said in protest.

"Yes," Eureka said, biting her lip in thought, "but you weren't able to follow her, were you?"

Renton looked ahead at the soft light of the moon, his mind far away.

"Yeah," he said softly, "I guess I get what you're saying. Do you think that's really possible?"

"I don't know Renton," Eureka said, "but how else would you explain it? You told me that you learned the Coral could change the laws of reality when they want to. If that's true, then why not?"

"Hm," Renton wondered.

He realized he could feel a faint breeze on his face now. He sighed happily. It smelled so good.

"Do you smell that, Eureka?"

"What?"

"The air from the outside. Can't you feel it?"

She sniffed once. Twice.

"I can feel the air," she sniffed again, "but I can't smell it. Sorry."

"Oh," Renton said.

"What does it smell like?" she asked curiously.

"I don't really know. Fresh, I guess."

She was quiet for a moment.

"Freshness has a smell?"

"Sure," Renton said. "Like... fresh... stuff."

He looked at Eureka, and laughed. She smiled.

"You know, Eureka? I don't really know what freshness smells like. It's just something I've always thought of as this smell."

"I wonder why?" Eureka said, but Renton could tell it was rhetorical.

The light ahead was getting steadily larger. Renton could make out the shapes of large white rocks right outside the tunnel now, reflecting most of the moonlight in the tunnel.

"Renton." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted you to know..." Eureka leaned in close, and they paused for a moment, sharing a kiss, "... just wanted you to know that, no matter what happens from now, no matter what happens after we get back to the outside world, that I will always love you, Renton, more than anything else."

Renton returned the kiss soundly, and smiled at her, their heads leaning against each other.

"And I want you to know, Eureka," he almost whispered, "that no matter who we meet, where we go, or what we do, I will always love and protect you. Always."

Renton could feel a strength, some kind of power, flow through him; he thought he saw the crystals around them glow brighter.

"Renton..."

"Eureka."

The tunnel shook, and Renton heard a deep rumbling sound. The crystals around them pulsated, and turned red.

"What was that?" Renton wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Eureka said. She sounded worried. Heck, Renton felt worried. What was happening?

There was a splitting sound, and the tunnel behind them collapsed. Renton started sprinting toward the end of the tunnel, pulling Eureka behind him. He didn't know what was causing the tunnel to collapse. He didn't care. He just knew they had to escape.

"Come on, Eureka! Run!" he yelled.

She didn't respond, just ran to keep up pace with him. The light got closer. Renton could smell smoke, and the sizzling pungent aroma of weapons fire. He stole a quick glance behind him to see what looked like KLF armor being covered by rubble. Why had a KLF crashed into the tunnel?

The tunnel was... groaning. Renton could hear the passage collapsing behind them, the stones falling in on themselves, a roaring sound that kept growing louder.

They hurdled out of the tunnel at a frantic pace, both throwing themselves to the ground as soon as they were out. Rocks and boulders tumbled down behind them, blocking up what once was the entrance to Earth. Renton knew the tunnel itself was no more. He coughed a couple times, kicking up the dust near his face.

He looked over to Eureka. She had been pressed against the ground, covering her head. She looked over at him, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She looked incredibly relieved to see he was alright. Renton felt the same, and pushed himself up also, looking into the sky for any KLFs.

"Are you alright?" she asked, dusting herself off and standing up.

He looked down at himself. He was covered in dirt. He reached up to his nose, pulling it away to find blood.

"I... think so," he said, Eureka helping him up. "What happened?"

"Renton," Eureka said, worriedly looking up in the sky, "I think there's... a battle going on."

"What?" Renton asked. "Why? What do they have to fight about?"

"I don't know," Eureka said. Suddenly, she gave out a little gasp, and flung herself at Renton. He held her close, her face buried into his shoulder. "Oh Renton! I don't know, I really don't know!" she kept repeating.

Renton felt like he had been hit by a bus. To come back to their home, only to find it... still embroiled in fighting and war...

He hugged Eureka tightly. He didn't know what to say.

She lifted her head up to look at Renton, tears in her eyes. The moon, its face covered by clouds at the moment, was behind her in the sky, turning her face into a dark shadow rimmed with light.

"Renton?" she asked.

"No, Eureka," Renton said firmly. He knew what she was thinking. "It's not our fault. We don't even know what's going on yet. We need to find everybody, see if they're safe, and then we'll find out what's going on." She still looked unsure of herself. Confused, adrift.

"I promise," he said, "right now, that if there's still war and fighting on this planet, our planet, we'll do everything we can to stop it."

"But what about Maurice, Maeter, Linck, and everyone else?" she cried. "What if they're not alright?"

"They are," Renton reassured, petting Eureka's hair. "They're fine, I'm sure of it. And besides," he said, "they have Holland to protect them. He would never let anything happen to anyone."

Eureka leaned into Renton for a long, unspoken moment. Then, she wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked up at Renton, determined.

"You're right. We need to get to them all as fast as we can, and see what we can do to help."

"Right," Renton agreed. He stepped away from Eureka, looking around for a way to get on top of the grass-covered hill that apparently covered their tunnel.

"Let's see if we can find a way to get to that KLF pilot that crashed in the tunnel," he told Eureka.

"Okay," she said, walking around the opposite direction Renton was, "good idea."

Looking around, Renton could see they were on a small, relatively level shoulder near the edge of a steep valley. He could just barely make out the ribbon-like shape of a river far, far below. The level area they stood on was enclosed by jutting ridges of the white granite Renton had seen from inside the tunnel. He didn't recognize the valley, but judging from the trees and shrubs covering the slopes below and above them, Renton guessed they were near Warsaw.

And, now that he was finally able to just stop and look around, Renton noticed for the first time the great, sparkling green ring that stretched from one end of the horizon to the other.

_Did we do that? _he wondered in awe.

But looking around for some way to the ruined KLF he could just make out fairly far above them, Renton couldn't see anything. The surrounding terrain was just too steep. He could see a small path to the left of the tunnel's now blocked entrance, winding it's way down toward the bottom of the valley from where they lay, and a precipice jutting out a fair ways towards it's right. But no path leading _up_.

Renton heard the sound of a laser discharging, very far away now. He thought he glimpsed the flashes of light thrown off by the KLF's battle, far in the distance, but he couldn't be sure

"Renton!" Eureka's voice came from beyond a bend in the little winding path. Renton ran over, to find Eureka climbing up a not-as-steep part of the hill. She scrambled up surprisingly deftly.

"Can you see the KLF?" he asked her, climbing up to her level, both of them almost crouching as they climbed up the steep slope.

"Yes," Eureka said, pausing for a moment to point. Renton followed her gaze, and saw something he didn't expect.

Yes, it was a KLF. But it wasn't deep blue, like all the KLFs he'd ever seen or fought. It was painted a deep crimson, with stripes of a dark forest green.

_Why is it painted like that? _

It didn't really matter. He just hoped the pilot was alright.

As he and Eureka got closer to the enormous machine, the ground leveled out a little bit, and they were able to stand up straight. They had to climb around the rubble, debris, and uneven ground of the impact crater around where the KLF had crashed.  
The machine itself didn't look in too bad of shape, but Renton could immediately see what was wrong. Judging by the blast marks near it's right shoulder, it had been hit by an electronic pulse, probably confusing the signals needed to communicate with the frame for movement. It was a serious problem, and could only be fixed by disassembling the armor in that area, and working on the frame itself.

The KLF's board had fallen nearby, spearing the ground to the giant's left. Renton climbed up the machine's leg, pulling up Eureka behind him, both of them walking up its body.

Approaching the hatch, Renton could hear that the pilot was still alive. The clanging of him pounding against the inside of his cockpit made that very obvious. Renton shook his head. The pulse must have affected the entire body. He knew how to fix it from the dealings his grandfather had had with the police back in Bellforest – they used the same type of weapon on all sorts of vehicles, and occasionally needed them fixed – but he couldn't do anything with what he had.

"Renton," Eureka said, kneeling by the hatch, "this KLF is... unconscious. I'm not getting anything from it at all."

She stayed there for a few minutes, kneeling next to it, her small, creamy hand pressed against it's cold, rough metal.

"Wait," she said suddenly, surprise in her eyes. "I'm getting just a little bit... very deep down.... it's still alive."

Renton didn't ask how she knew. When it came to these things, Eureka just knew.

The beatings on the inside of the cockpit had subsided. Renton wondered if the pilot could hear them. He felt defeated. He just didn't see what they could do.

"Eureka, I think.... I don't think there's anything we can..." he said slowly.

Eureka was still letting her hand rest against the KLF, her face turned away from Renton now. Then she pressed against the metal with both hands.

"Please open!" she cried. "Please wake up! Both Renton and I need you to wake up!"

A strange thing happened. There was a shudder through the whole enormous frame of the KLF, like it had been jolted with electricity. The whole thing... glowed faintly green for a moment, and Renton thought he saw a small flame of rainbow light jump from Eureka's hand to the machine.

Renton looked around. The blast wound on the KLF's shoulder was gone. It's foot, which had been twisted out of it's socket a moment before, was now wholly repaired.

But Renton wasn't really surprised. He had seen some things. He was just grateful when the hatch swung open, hitting against the metal chest with a clang.

"What the HELL did you do to my KLF?" came a very disgruntled, female voice. A large, fishbowl like helmet popped up through the hatchway.

"You're okay!" Eureka exclaimed, grinning.

"Of course I am," the woman said, unlatching her helmet. With a pop, uncombed locks of coppery red came into view, followed by a pretty and young, if very agitated, face. "Now are you going to tell me exactly what you're doing here? This is a designated war zone."

"Who are you?" Renton asked.

"I asked you first, short-stuff," she said, shooting a withering glance at Renton.

"I'm Eureka Thurston," Renton's compatriot said happily, clearly oblivious to the hostility from the woman, "and this is Renton Thurston."

"Yeah, and I'm Maria Jurgens," the woman said hotly, voice dripping with sarcasm. Then, she did a double take.

"Wait. Really?"

Eureka nodded. "Really," she said, looking a little confused. Renton didn't quite understand the woman's reaction to hearing who they were, either.

"But..." the red-haired woman said, talking to herself, "the Chancellor said you guys... that you'd _never _come back. That you'd sacrificed yourselves..."

She appeared to come back to her senses, smiling for the first time, offering her hand to Eureka.

"Sorry about how I acted earlier, Eureka," she said, as Eureka shook the proffered hand, "I didn't realize who you guys were. I'm Annika, Annika Schwarz. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Why?" Renton asked.

She looked at him strangely, then at Eureka, who wore the same expression he did. Renton knew Eureka was as curious as he was.

"You're kidding," she said. She shook her head, smiling. "You guys are the most famous people on the entire planet, and you don't even know it. Kind of seems to fit, doesn't it?"

"Most famous..." Renton repeated softly, "..... on the planet?"

Annika nodded, still smiling. "Yep," she said. "Hate to be the bearer of good news, but what you guys did during the Second Summer of Love is... like... legendary. There's got to be half a billion buildings, parks, and stuff dedicated to you guys. You're both heroes. "

Renton shared a nervous smile with Eureka.

"H-how famous... exactly?" Renton asked slowly.

Annika blew some air out through the side of her lips.

"Oh, I don't know," she said. "Well, say, right now, you asked the world's governments for cash. You would get enough money to buy half of those countries. That famous."

"But why?" Eureka asked.

"Didn't I already tell you?" Annika asked. Seeing their faces, she added: "What, you thought we would forget you? Your names are on the face of the effing moon for christ's sake!"

"What?" Renton asked.

"You two didn't know? Where have you guys been?"

"Mostly traveling around the part of the Earth that's still covered by the crust of the Scubs," Eureka said.

"And it's been behind the clouds since we came back up," Renton said.

Annika gave them both a look. "Oh," she said. Then pointed, exasperatedly. "Well, you can see it now!"

They both turned. Eureka let out a gasp, and Renton felt the air taken out of him for a moment, too.

Their names.... their names were on the moon, surrounded by a giant groove in the shape of a heart. Renton didn't know what to say. Eureka came over to him, and he wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned back against his shoulder. It all looked so beautiful – the moon, the ring stretching from horizon to horizon.

"Renton... we did it," she said softly.

"I know," he said breathlessly, "I know."

Annika was watching them both intently, a grin playing on her lips, but then her face clouded, her gaze somewhere else.

"But it's weird," she said. "We were told you guys were never coming back."

"By whom?" Eureka asked.

"Well, Chancellor Jurgens, mostly. Novak, too. Although," she muttered to herself, "Ray=Out's been saying for a while now you guys might be back... And Tom said I shouldn't believe it, too. Boy is he gonna be pissed!"

Renton turned. Eureka stood beside him, holding his hand.

"Wait," he said, "did you say Jurgens?"

"Yeah, sure," Annika said, "Chancellor of the Warsaw Confederacy. Why?"

"What is it, Renton?" Eureka asked.

"It's just," Renton said, trying to remember, "I think I knew him. I think we met, when I was back on the Gekko while you were.... away."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Annika said. "He said he knew you."

"And Holland?" Eureka added. "You mentioned Holland."

Annika shrugged. "Sure," she said. "I don't tune in to him much, but he's the leader of the International Peacekeeping Organization, if you can call it that," she added. "It's more like a loose grouping of ref boarders, 'honorable' mercenaries, and pacifists. Lord only know how exactly they stay together. I just can't understand why the Chancellor seems to like them."

Renton and Eureka looked at each other. Renton could tell she agreed with him: they both really needed to find the people they knew and get caught up, because it looked like they had a lot of catching up to do.

Annika changed the subject.

"Where are you guys headed, exactly?" she asked, her face simple curiosity.

"Well..." Eureka started.

"....We don't really know," Renton admitted.

"Huh," Annika said."Drifters, eh? Well, I'd offer you a ride back to my military base, if you want it."

"Do you know where Holland and the Gekko are?" Eureka asked.

Annika pondered for a moment.

"You know, I think I do recollect some news bulletin or something about Novak coming to Warsaw City and having a peace talk with Chancellor Jurgens and the Prime Minister of Brosendell, although Tom says that's bullshit. He says it's just a cover, and they're really up to something secret. I got that bulletin just before I left to fight these bastards, too. Only four hours ago, really."

"Who are you fighting?" Eureka asked, indignantly. "And why are you fighting them?"

"Weellllll," Annika said slowly, "a lot of people. Today, Brosendell. Tomorrow? Who knows?" She shrugged. "I just protect my nation, and shoot at what my Chancellor tells me to."

Eureka made a small sound. Renton knew what she meant. They both felt sad for Annika. He didn't really know why. She was doing what she believed in. Renton, and Eureka, he knew, both felt that one of the most important things in life was doing what you believed in. But still, he felt sad for the KLF pilot.

There were more important things to worry about, however.

"I think," he said, "we would love to talk to you about how things have changed since we were last here, but, if the Gekko is in Warsaw, then Eureka and I should probably go there."

Annika nodded.

"Sure thing," she said. "Just let me check some stuff first..."

She pushed herself out of the hatch, and started walking along the surface of her KLF. Renton noticed her flight suit was also the same crimson color as the machine, a green X on her chest. He had a feeling that what she was doing was some kind of routine procedure. Heck, he had had to do the same sort of thing for Nirvash when he was on the Gekko. Thinking about Nirvash brought with it a pang of loss. Eureka leaned in close to him.

"I'm sure Nirvash is happy, Renton," she said.

Renton nodded, a lump in his throat. "Yeah," he managed to choke out.

After checking the foot that had been miraculously repaired, Annika came back, wonder on her face.

"What _did _you guys do?" she asked in awe. "I haven't seen my baby looking this well since she came out of the shop."

Eureka looked at Renton.

"We made it feel better," Eureka said. "That's all."

Annika gave her a skeptical look. "Riiight," she said, and slipped back into her cockpit. There was the sound of her flipping buttons and pressing switches, and then Renton heard her gasp.

"What is it?" Eureka asked, kneeling down and peering into the hatch. Renton joined her.

Down in the cockpit, Annika sat horizontally in an uncomfortable-looking seat. The blinking buttons and shining consoles gave the impression of a gathering of fireflies. The pilot had her helmet in her lap, but was staring intently at the KLF's Compac Drive.

"The Compac," she muttered. "What happened to it?"

"Is something wrong with it?" Eureka asked.

"No... not wrong exactly..."

"Then what?" Renton asked. Personally, from where he stood, he didn't see anything abnormal about the Compac Drive.

"It's... I don't know... brighter. And there's specks of light floating in it. It's... pulsating. It didn't do that before."

"Really?" Eureka asked. She looked at Renton, saying: "Nirvash's Compac Drive always looked like that."

"Yeah," Renton said. "And, come to think of it, every LFO I've ever been in has had a Compac Drive like that."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Annika said. "Maybe it's different with LFOs, but the Compac Drives have never been like that as long as I've been piloting KLFs."

"How long _have _you been piloting them?" Eureka asked.

Annika thought. "Just about eight months now," she said. "Before that I was in communications at Warsaw Tower."

"Well, does it still work?" Renton asked

"Let's find out," Annika said.

She flipped another switch. The KLF rumbled, nearly pitching Eureka into the cockpit. Renton steadied her.

"That's new..." Annika mumbled.

She adjust several levers, and the display around her beeped and flashed in response. Renton saw several displays similar to the ones in the Nirvash.

"You guys better get off," she warned, gripping the controls.

Renton and Eureka both scrambled off, and got a good distance away.

"Here goes nothing!" they heard from the cockpit.

The KLF sprang to life, and moved both agilely and swiftly. It quickly stood up, grabbed the ref board from next to it, and shot into the air, faster then Renton had ever seen a KLF do before.

"She's pretty good," he thought aloud.

"Yeah," Eureka agreed. "She would have fit in on the Gekko, I think."

Renton wasn't so sure. "I don't know," he said. "Did you hear her talking about war the way she did? Nobody on the Gekko would have liked that."

Eureka nodded, but then said. "That's why she could have been on the Gekko. We could have taught her otherwise."

Renton shrugged. Who knew how things might have turned out in a different life? All he knew was that this woman was a good pilot.

"About what you did to the KLF..." Renton said.

"I don't know, Renton. It just happened."

"Okay."

They watched as Annika did several passes in the moonlit air, flitting in front of the planet's glowing ring like a moth near a lamp. She did mostly standard maneuvers, although Renton saw a few that were definitely not standard.

Renton wondered if it would be possible to get back to Earth through the crater the KLF must have left behind. But, clambering up to the rim of the pit, Renton saw that it was hopeless. The entire thing was a haphazard bed of rocks. It was completely caved in.

The KLF landed a bit to the right of it's first location, except that this time, it was standing. Eureka and Renton went over to the foot of the machine. The hatch opened, and the coppery head of the pilot popped out.

"Christ!" she said, grinning from ear to ear. "It's _never _responded like that before! Whatever you guys did, the output is now 250% better, maybe 300%!"

"You're a pretty good pilot," Renton called up. "Did you ever lift?"

Annika's smile vanished.

"No," she said, dismissively. Renton felt her response was just a _little _too quick. But, if she didn't want to tell him something, she didn't have to.

"You're so good, how did you get hit with the pulse that made you crash?" Eureka asked.

Annika grimaced. "They cheated, the bastards. They held me down with cover fire, then snuck somebody up through the forest, where they _knew _I couldn't detect their trapar interference."

She looked preoccupied for a moment, then turned to the young couple at the KLF's feet.

"So," she said, "you guys want a ride or not?"

"Yes, please," Eureka said.

"Okay, then hop on," Annika called, retreating into the cockpit. The KLF knelt, proffering it's hand. Renton and Eureka both climbed into it, crouching and grabbing on to whatever hand-holds they could.

"Hang on tight!" came the pilot's voice, before the hatch closed. The KLF took two steps, and then they were in the air, coasting on the trapar. Their sudden flight startled a flock of skyfish, who decided to fly alongside them as they lifted higher.

"Renton!" Eureka exclaimed. "I forgot how wonderful flying is!" She held on to a finger of the giant hand, grinning at her partner.

Renton could only yell in response, as the KLF suddenly dropped down to a more stable trapar wave, leaving the skyfish far behind them.

"Sorry about that," an external speaker projected Annika's voice outside the cockpit, although it sounded broken and irregular. "Shouldn't be any more drops like that."

Eureka laughed, a beautiful sound that seemed to glitter on the air. Renton smiled back, feeling a little sick. He hadn't been in the air in a while. Still, he tried to put on a brave face for Eureka.

The KLF seemed to slide through the air, it's movements smooth and subtle. The cool night air was refreshing, without being cold. The giant fingers of the machine protected them both from the worst of the wind. Eventually, assured of the safety of their flight, Renton reached out a hand toward Eureka. She grabbed it firmly, and they both gazed out at the world, it's sky still unfamiliar to them, but comforting and breath-taking at the same time.

After the first hour, they had passed over most of the valley, and were traveling through rolling hills, interspersed with more jutting peaks. Eureka edged over to Renton on the metal hand, and leaned against him. Her hair was blowing away from her face, giving her a vigorous, wild look. Renton supposed the he had the same look, as he could feel his hair blowing wildly the same way.

"You guys can go ahead and relax. I think," the speakers spoke again. "I'll try to keep us level as possible. We should get to the Warsaw-Oberforth base in just over an hour."

"Thank-you!" Eureka called, although the pilot probably couldn't hear them.

"Well," Renton said, squeezing Eureka's hand, "we're on our way home."

"I know," Eureka replied, "It's amazing how much has happened here since we were gone."

Renton wondered about that. Would they be able to fit in again? After being gone from the face of the planet for an entire year, would they really be able to just slide back into their old lives? He didn't know. He hoped so, hoped with all his heart that things could just become normal again. But he didn't know if that was what was going to happen.

Renton's head jerked to the right. He thought he had seen something... a glimmer in the air. But it might have just been a skyfish.

There was a bright light, as a red beam went wide, firing just in front of the KLF. Renton covered Eureka, both of them trying to retain their holds on the machine's fingers. Renton could smell the familiar burning scent that accompanied the fresh-spent energy.

Renton looked back, searching for the KLF that had shot at them. He found it, hovering a fair distance behind their KLF to the right. Even from this distance, he could see the KLFs colors – it was painted bright yellow and black.

"Eureka, Renton," came Annika's voice, "hold on tight. I'm going to try and shake that sneaky bastard."

Their KLF suddenly stopped going forward, and did a zig-zag downwards to the left. Renton saw the unoccupied hand grab an imposing gun out of a compartment on it's leg. He held on to Eureka and any hand-holds within reach as tight as he could, but whenever they dropped, he had to readjust his grip.

They swerved, dodging another shot from the enemy KLF. Out of the glances he got, Renton could tell it wasn't a type he was familiar with. It was spindly, with incredibly long-looking arms and legs. The bulge that generally indicated a cockpit was small, and the one-eyed head was on a long, tubular neck. It's paint was arranged in a bar pattern, putting Renton in mind of a yellow-jacket.

They were very low now, speeding just over the tips of grizzled trees. Renton could look back and see their wake behind them in the forest, with some trees even getting their tops cut off by the KLF's giant board.

Renton couldn't see the enemy KLF anymore. It had disappeared, and he couldn't even see the trail that all boards made in the trapar.

"I think we lost them," Eureka said, her breathing ragged, as if she had just run a long distance. Renton felt out of breath too. His lungs hurt, each breath came in painfully.

Suddenly, they were over a broad river, reflecting in ironic beauty the starry night. Their KLF swerved, flying parallel to the river.

Movement. The enemy KLF burst out of the trees on the near bank, it's gun blazing away. Renton felt so helpless. He'd always been able to affect the outcome of a battle before. Now, he could only sit by and hope everything turned out alright.

Annika maneuvered deftly around all the shots, and then their KLF hopped off of the Trapar wave for a moment, turning around it's board in mid-air while maintaining forward flight. The giant rifle it bore fired several rapid shots in the direction of the enemy, but it was agile, dodging them all, while firing several of it's own.

They were slowly forced closer and closer to the surface of the river. Risking a look over the edge of the giant hand, he could see their reflection running backwards through the water. He didn't get a very long look, though, because Eureka yanked him back as hard as she could, and clung onto him tightly with one hand to make sure he stayed in place.

And then, time seemed to move very slowly. The enemy KLF feigned to the left, causing their machine to get in especially close. Renton could see he and Eureka in the reflection off the yellow-coated metal.

Their KLF pushed away, kicking it's board straight at the enemy in desperation. The board impaled the foe, and blood gushed out of the wound. But, before it plunged into the river, the enemy fired one last shot, which lashed savagely into their machine's left side.

Renton felt the impact in his teeth, the jarring motion loosening his grip. With a yell, he managed to hold on. Looking over at Eureka, he saw she was having the same problem holding on, grasping desperately at the KLF's finger. The great red beast started to spin as it fell, before hitting the surface of the water with an impact twice that of the enemies fire.

The KLF plunged underwater, yet Renton still managed to retain his grip. His breath was knocked out of him by the freezing temperature. He could see Eureka next to him, her hair floating around her face, shock from the cold evident in her eyes.

The water was clear, and through it's pale green light Renton was even able to see the bottom, a fair distance below the surface. It wasn't frightningly deep, but it was deep enough. Both of them holding the other's hand, Renton and Eureka abandoned their perch, swimming as fast as they could towards air, and the shore.

They broke through the surface of the water, slipping and sliding as the furious current carried them downriver. They weren't too far from the shore.

Renton saw a rock sticking up out of the furious tide. He grasped at it, managing to get as good a grip on it as he could. Then he watched, paralyzed as Eureka's grip around his hand came loose. She was flung into the water, panicking and reaching out towards him.

"RENTON!" she screamed, trying to fight against the current.

"EUREKA!" Renton yelled, reaching out as far as he could. But it was too late, the pale girl spun down the unforgiving river, plunging around a bend and out of sight.

Renton was frantic. He didn't know what to do.

_That's not true. I have to protect Eureka. _

He was about to let go of the slippery rock, and go after Eureka, when he saw a something else out of the corner of his eye.

Turning, he saw Annika's limp body hurtling toward him. Instinctively, he reached out, grabbing a hold of her arm. Her weight tugged at him, the current pushing against it. He thought he was going to be torn in half. But he still managed to drag her back to the relative safety of his rock.

He cried tearlessly for a moment, clinging to his rock and his prisoner, his heart in pieces. He felt tugged in two directions. He needed Eureka. He needed her by his side. But he couldn't just abandon the woman he had just saved. Looking at her, he shivered; she might have been dead already.

Renton looked around. He needed some way to get to the wooded shore, just a few yards away. He could figure things out from safe, dry land. He wished more than ever that Nirvash was with them.

He saw it: a branch, sticking out of the water, perhaps wedged between two rocks under the surface. It was just a little bit down-river, and close to the rocky bank. He could probably reach it if he pushed extra hard, maybe using Annika's weight for counterbalance. It might come loose if he tried to grab it. But...

_Don't beg for things. _

He edged around the rock slowly, the current pushing both him and the limp Annika against it. Using her body as a counterweight, he jumped out from behind the slippery stone. The current snagged him immediately, trying to pull the both of them down the rapids. But Renton wouldn't let that happen.

Renton could see the upturned stick fast approaching. He lunged with all his strength, the dead weight he carried all the more incentive.

He snagged it, the strong branch didn't even bend from his weight. For a moment, Renton thought everything would be all right. He would find Eureka. She had to be alright. Now, he could get to the shore.

The branch came loose.

Renton and his charge tumbled down the river, with branch in hand. The limp body he carried now proved to be a danger – Renton could barely stay afloat while it dragged him down. His arms were getting tired. He didn't think he could fight much longer.

They were swept past the bend Renton had seen Eureka disappear behind. For a brief, uplifting second, Renton thought that she would be there, standing on the bank, reaching out to grab his hand.

There was no Eureka. Just mud, stones, and gnarled trees. Renton realized he couldn't keep his head and Annika's above the water much longer. He flailed, the branch in his hand swishing through the water, bumping against rocks under the surface. Renton supposed this part of the river wasn't so deep. If only he could have-

Then, a yank on his arm. The branch had gotten stuck, quivering up into the night sky. It held, and Renton struggled to retain _his_ hold on _it_. He laughed for joy. They were okay. Alive. He looked down at Annika's pale, soaked face. At least he hoped they were alive.

He looked around. The bank was closer here than where the branch had originally been. In fact, he could tell the current died down just a couple arm-lengths away. He wondered how deep it was there. Hopefully not too deep.

Now that he could stop and breath for a moment, he realized just how awfully cold he was. Fortunately, it was a warm night, so he didn't think he'd freeze – so long as he got out of the river _now_.

He swung as much as he could on the branch. It held tight. He nodded, edged himself towards the bank, and pushed off against the branch. He felt it come free under his kick, but it didn't matter. He had enough force to launch both he and Annika into the safety of the shallow bank.

He stood up. It was difficult, but he picked up Annika's lean body and slung her over his shoulders. She was very heavy. Renton wobbled for a moment – he was very nearly out of strength himself, and he knew he needed rest.  
He splashed through the water, up to his knees. His clothes were plastered against his skin- he felt clammy and uncomfortable. Annika's hair on his shoulder, soaked and dripping, let little rivulets of water run down his back.

He walked through the warm woods, soaking and miserable, until he came to a small clearing, the carved moon mocking him though the treetops.

He rolled Annika off his back and on to the ground. He placed his ears to her chest – she still had a pulse, but a weak one.

He at least knew CPR; it had been part of the regimen for all students during his PE class back when he went to school.

"Come on," he muttered, pressing down on her forcefully.

She coughed – sputtered.

"Fuck," she managed to spit out. Renton could see blood where she coughed on the ground. He sighed in relief.

"Are you alright?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"You know, you really are something, Renton," she said, smiling at him, wiping some liquid from her chin. She looked around. "Where's Eureka."

Renton suddenly felt everything crash down on him. He felt like he had just been hit in the stomach – he felt suddenly empty, tears coming to her eyes. He couldn't speak, couldn't breathe.

"Ah..." Annika looked at him worriedly.

"I saw her..." Renton said. "She lost her grip... I wasn't holding on to her strong enough... it was my fault."

Annika hugged him. "It's alright," she said. "I'm sure she's fine. You guys saved the world for christ's sake. A river isn't gonna stop her."

Renton punched her, hard, in the stomach. She fell back, coughing. Then, she looked at him.

"Don't touch me," Renton said, getting up and walking to the far side of the clearing. He could hear Annika get up, too.

"I guess I deserved that," she said. "Sorry, I'm kinda impulsive." He heard her sigh. "I'm gonna go get some firewood. Get a fire started. We _will _look for Eureka in the morning. And we _will_ find her."

She gave a hollow sort of laugh.

"Besides, the world would never forgive me if I didn't."

She walked off into the woods, twigs and detritus cracking under her steps.

Renton took a deep breath. He turned around, gazing at the night, looking at the moon, the ring; a constant reminder, he supposed, although he didn't really need one.

"I made a promise," he said to nobody, and yet everybody at once. "And I'm not going to break it now."

He smiled.

"Wait for me, Eureka."

......................................................................

Renton really didn't know what to think.

He looked out over the fence; across the street from Mr. Stoner's hotel, there was a broad green slope. He watched, enthralled, as a group of people older than him took out miniature KLF-boards, and surfed the trapar. He had never seen anything like it.

He heard the hotel door open behind him. Turning around, he saw Eureka run out across the street to him. She leaned on to the fence next to him, looking out both at the impossible surfers and the world in general.

"It's really pretty," she said. Renton nodded.

This place, which Mr. Stoner called Warsaw, but didn't look anything like _his_ Warsaw, really was beautiful after the rains stopped.

It was nearing late afternoon, the sun starting to take on an orange tint. The light sparkled off of the still wet hills stretched out before them, the golden silhouettes of tall buildings, some ruined-looking, off in the distance. A tall, steep hill stretched itself out behind the hotel, it's verdant forest bright and proud. The four-lane road providing a stark contrast to the natural beauty around, cars occasionally passing by, although Renton had seen one military convoy rumble past.

And then, of course, there was the sky. It was beautiful, currently bedecked in a dress of orange-tinted blue, with pinks starting to appear. The clouds, wisps of cream in the sea that surrounded them.

But no, that wasn't what interested Renton. It was the ring. The green, sparkling bridge, spanning it's way from one end of the land to the other, that was the real draw to his eyes. Mr. Stoner wouldn't tell him where it came from. He said it wasn't his job to say. Renton didn't know what that meant. These days, he didn't really know anything.

He did know a couple things, though. Firstly, Mr. Stoner, although a look-alike, was not the same crew member who had attacked Eureka during their stay on the Gekko. In the couple days since he had met him, couped up by the endless rain, he had learned that he really wasn't all that bad. He could wax philosophically a bit, sure, but he was pretty much a nice guy.

Then, he knew that this place was something he had heard of before. It was the moon that told him. The moon. The one that had his and Eureka's name on it, encircled by a giant heart. He had been scared at first, and confused, looking at it. Eureka had just thought it was beautiful, and Renton had held her close.

Looking at it now, though, it told him something. Told him that this place was something the Commander had glimpsed. When he had described it, Commander Holland had said something about a ring around the planet, and a moon with a heart in it. Well, those were certainly here. So, was this place what the Commander called Neverland? Renton didn't know. This place, unlike what the Commander had described, seemed almost like home. Sure, there were some things that Renton didn't yet know or understand, but most everything seemed at least similar to back home. And Eureka wasn't worried. He wasn't even sure if she noticed the differences between here and home. She really hadn't known much back home anyway, so how could she compare it to here?

He looked over at her. She had slipped an arm over his shoulders, and was now following the strange KLF-board guys with her eyes. Her hair had gone back into a ponytail, with Amy's help. The two had become fast friends over the course of a week of rainy days.

It was odd. The whole thing. But Renton couldn't help but feel almost relaxed here. Leave no doubt, he wanted to go home. But, if they were going home soon, which he suspected they would, as Mr. Stoner said he had some friends who might be able to help them, then this place wasn't so bad.

It was strange about Mr. Stoner, too. The first day or two, he had watched them both, and especially Eureka, with an odd look in his eye. Renton had been nervous about him at first, (how could he not be?) but when Mr. Stoner finally seemed to relax around them, Renton found he could too. He wouldn't tell them about some things, like the moon, or the rings, and some other stuff, always saying it wasn't his place to say, but never saying why.

"Renton," Eureka said, still watching the boarders on the hill, "I want to go talk to them."

Renton shrugged. "Sure," he said, "I wouldn't mind talking to them myself."

They both climbed over the hip-height fence, and trotted over to the hill where the group of motley, long-haired people were flying through the air on their mysterious boards.

One of them, a girl sitting on the hill with extremely long, dark braids and very large pants waved at them.

"Hey!" she called, and then, to her friends in the air: "Hey guys, look who it is!"

Soon, the whole crew had landed on the ground. One of these, another girl with blonde hair that rode very high on her head, went over to Eureka and inspected her hair.

"Wow..." she muttered, "I've never seen a long-haired Eureka before."

"Hello?" Eureka asked nervously.

"Oh," the girl looked up. "Hi, I'm April. What's your name?"

Eureka stuck out her hand forcefully, and said, "I'm Eureka. Pleased to meet you."

The girl looked at her dubiously.

"You're supposed to shake it," Eureka proffered friendlily.

The girl did. Seeing the confusion, and having been taught what he was supposed to do in these situations, as Mr. Stoner had told him, (as, apparently, there was another Renton and Eureka here who looked like them, and were famous), he cut in.

"This is Gloria," he said, putting his arm around Eureka's shoulders, "and I'm Trent. Trent... uh... Beams."

The girl blinked. Eureka looked confusedly at Renton, but Renton shook his head.

"Well..." the girl finally managed, "then nice to meet you... I guess..."

The others with her came over. There was the girl with the baggy pants, and the girl with the tall blonde hair. There was also two guys who looked almost exactly the same, with short, black hair spiked up, both with sunglasses, and another girl with a cap and a ponytail, chewing gum. The last one of them was a really tall guy with long brown hair covering his eyes.

"Say, what's up with the interpretation of the Saviors, man?" this one asked.

"Yeah, like, that's what I want to know," said the girl with the cap.

"Well," Renton said, thinking on his feet, "we... uh, felt that, since it's been a year, we'd... update the looks accordingly." He did know that it was the anniversary of the other Renton and Eureka's disappearance, although Mr. Stoner wouldn't tell him what happened exactly, and he didn't want to ask someone else. He had a feeling he would look ignorant.

"So, what's up with the miniature-KLF boards?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

They all looked at him. Renton heard a bird chirping somewhere in the hills.

"Seriously?" one of the sun-glassed twins asked him.

Renton shrugged. "Well, yeah. I've never seen any so small."

"Dude... Where have you been since like... the beginning of time?" the long-haired boy asked him.

"A hill near the lake," Eureka said. "It's really nice."

"We... uh... come from a place where those small boards don't... erm.... exist," Renton fumbled.

"Really?" April asked. "I thought they had ref boards everywhere?"

"Ref-boards?" Renton asked. "You know, the way you guys were riding them made me think of surfing."

"What?" the girl with baggy pants asked.

"You know..." Renton said, "surfing. Boards, waves.... cowabunga." Seeing their confused expressions, he gestured to the boards. "It's like those, only on the water."

"Where are you gonna do that?" One of them asked. "No waves in the lakes."

"Yeah," said another, "and nobody lives near The Ocean, either. Well, not a lot of people, I think."

"No, dudes," the long-haired one said, "I heard there's lots of Ocean under the crust, on The Earth. Like," he made a huge gesture with his arms, "lots of it. But it's salty."

"Eww..." April said. "Why would they make it salty?"

Renton's mouth hung open a little bit.

"How do they work, anyway?" he decided was safe to ask.

"You just... do it..." one of them said. "I don't really know how it works. The trapar... they just let you lift..."

"But," Renton complained, "that doesn't make sense. I lived with two scientists most of my life, and to achieve lift, the board needs to be able to harvest energy on a giant scale. You can't just scale it down and achieve the same result!"

They simultaneously shrugged.

"Don't know what to tell you, dude," the long haired one said.

Renton wanted to try the small board, really badly. He had always enjoyed flying with Nirvash, even when he had a mission to complete. He wanted to see if the same effect could be achieved on the small scale.

"Can... I try it?" he asked nervously.

"Sure," April said. "You can try my board. It's not super temperamental, but the wheel is a little bigger than normal. I hope that doesn't matter for you."

"I won't even know the difference. Really," Renton assured her, taking the board.

The long haired boy gestured to a small drop off on the edge of the hill.

"Since you've never done this before," he said, "here's how. Just run at the edge, then jump on the board when you reach the end. After that, it's all in your heart, man. Just believe it."

"Um... thanks," Renton said.

He looked at the ledge. Putting the board under his arm, he could feel all the eyes of the lifters on him. Mostly though, he could tell Eureka was watching him.

_Why is it so warm when it's almost sunset? _

He ran. Just ran straight at the small cliff. Right before he reached the edge, he put the tiny-looking board in front of him and jumped on it. He was over the edge now, and could see the bottom, pretty far down. He'd break something, bad if this didn't work.

It didn't. He started falling, breathing heavily. What had he gotten himself into? This wouldn't work. Of course it wouldn't. It was impossible.

_Was this really such a good idea? _

Eureka. He thought about Eureka, standing up there, looking down on him, hoping he would be alright.

He couldn't let her down. With all his might, Renton tried to focus on the board working, lifting him up into the air. He saw the ground, coming closer... closer....

And then it was receding, falling away. So was the cliff he had jumped off, and the people down on the hill. It worked. He was lifting.

He laughed out loud, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"IT WORKED!" he crowed, grinning broadly.

Actually, when it got right down to it, this was just like piloting Nirvash. After he reached a height where, if he looked down, everyone looked like bugs, he leaned forward, and a little bit to the right, coming down in a lazy spiral.

It was odd. He could feel... something, keeping him up. Some force. He could feel it on his skin, even, like the wind, but different, almost electric. He could feel almost through his entire being.

He twisted his foot, placing it more firmly on the board. He leaned a different way now, causing the board to catch whatever force was in the air, pushing him backwards with great speed, pushing him out over the freeway. He couldn't stop grinning. This was fun. He wondered if he could do some of the tricks he saw the others doing.

He spontaneously did a flip, turning around back towards the hills. He sped across this invisible force, finding some places were better than others for staying up, and for going faster. He twirled. He twisted, a dance in the air that both reminded him of flying with Nirvash, and ended up being a completely different thing.

He tried some things he had seen the others do, and some things he did with Nirvash. After around twenty minutes, he finally came in to land, exhilarated but a little cold, still grinning. He stepped off the board with ease. He could already feel it like it was part of him, an extension of himself.

When he stepped off the board, the others came rushing over. Eureka threw herself around him, smiling too. The lifters, not so much.

"Dude, why did you lie to us like that?" the girl with the cap asked him.

"About what?" Renton asked, surprised. The smile slid off his face. Did he do something wrong?

"About not knowing about Lifting," April said exasperatedly. "You obviously know_ all_ about it."

"But... I don't," Renton said with a laugh. How could they think otherwise?

"Come on, dude," one of the twins said, "you were all like – woosh – and then you did that thing with the twist?" He made exaggerated arm signs while he spoke. "Then, there was that thing where you went like... - cshwoo – and with the thing upside-down? Oh, and then there was the thing where it was like – bam! - and then you were like – bam! Bam! Bam! Dude, like seriously? You were amazing."

"But," Renton insisted, looking at them all, "I didn't know any of that stuff was... I've never... I've never done any Lifting before!"

"Oh come on," April frowned, rolling her eyes. "The cut-back drop-turn? You didn't make _that_ up on the spot."

Before he could say anything in reply, Eureka turned to him.

"Renton," she tugged at his arm.

"What, Eureka?" he asked, and looked to where she was pointing.

"Gekko," she said.

Renton could see it, far off over the tips of the buildings, flying their way.

All the – ref-boarders? - turned.

"Woah!" someone said.

"It's really the Gekko!"

"I wonder if Holland'll sign my board!"

"I want Dominic to sign mine!"

"What? He doesn't even do any lifting."

"So? He's still a member of Gekkostate. And any guy who nets a chick as hot as he has has my respect."

"The pink-haired girl....Anemone? Dude, she's-"

Renton wasn't listening. He was watching the ship, it's lean form sliding stealthily through the deepening skies, the sun descending slowly behind it. How had the Commander gotten here? And was he going to help them, or what?

He didn't know the answers to those questions. But, for some reason, even though the ship had brought him nothing but trouble, he couldn't help but feel... saved.

The ship seemed to speed up as it got closer. In a few moments Renton could count the panels on the bridge's 'eyes'.

The Gekko roared past them, intensely low. It soared over their hill, kicking up dirt and causing the grass to thrash about violently. One of the lifter's boards was knocked out of his hands. They all crouched and covered their ears from the noises, Eureka with an intensely frightened look on her face. She grasped Renton's hand desperately.

The Gekko passed, pivoted, and came in to land right on the highway. Renton was surprised. It seemed like the Commander could get away with anything. At least, back home that was the case. But back home, their was no real government, no military to oppose them. From what Renton had seen of this place, things were different.

"They fly too low," Eureka pouted, looking scornfully at the now familiar Gekko. She looked at Renton. "I want to go see Talho, and the baby," she said.

Renton found himself nodding. "Sure, and then we can go home," he postulated.

"Dude's, that's Moondoggie for ya'," one of the sunglassed twins said. "He lands wherever he pleases."

His brother nodded. "Guy's got balls of steel, man. You remember him and the Neskean military last month? They never stood a chance."

"Hey, let's go see if we can talk to them, maybe get a tour of the Gekko!" April suggested.

"Yeah!"

"Awesome!"

They all started running towards the now stationary Gekko. Eureka started to run with them. She looked back at Renton, as she was running.

"Come on, Renton!" she yelled, grinning. "We're running!"

"Alright, Eureka," he called back, "wait for me!"

Eureka laughed and sped up, Renton struggling to keep up. He laughed.

After all, they were about to go home.

........................................................................

(Author's Note: I would like people's opinion on something. When both Rentons and Eurekas inevitably meet, how should I differentiate the two? I've been thinking changing movieRenton and Eureka to Rentin and Eurecka, just to tell the difference. What's your opinion? Reply any way you like, even through the eureka seven forums if you want.)

(Also, in case you haven't noticed, when they're first put up, the chapters generally have some pretty stupid errors. Any beta reader volunteers?)


	4. Dazed and Confused

"Nice landing," Hap said, looking out the Gekko's large cockpit.

"It's nothin'," Moondoggie said, grinning. Holland had to admit, he'd come a long way. Who'd have guessed he'd be a better pilot than Talho? "Lucky there's this highway, though."

Hap turned to Holland.

"About that, Holland," he said. "Are we _really_ gonna park ourselves right in the way of military convoys? Jurgens isn't gonna like it."

"Oh, come on, Hap," Holland got out of his chair and went over to Woz's station. "We're only going to be here for a little while. And where else did you want us to land? Stoner said it was urgent."

"I've been wondering about that," Ken-Goh said. "If it's so urgent, than why couldn't he just tell us?"

Holland shrugged, looking over the Trapar readings on Woz's monitor. Pretty good levels here. Maybe they'd go lifting. He wanted a break from all the diplomatic stuff. That and Charles really took it out of him. "He said he couldn't explain it: that we'd have to come here."

"Looks like he's not doing too bad for himself," Hap said, raising an eyebrow at the lavish balcony on the hotel. Holland could spot the green of Stoner's jacket standing up there.

"Communications from Warsaw tower," Gidget said, a hand to her ear. "They're complaining we didn't get permission to land. What should I tell them?" She looked over at Holland.

_Go stick it somewhere else?_

"Tell them we had to stop to make emergency repairs," was what Holland said aloud, "and that we'll be back on our way shortly."

"I hope so," muttered Hap, "or we're bound to make enemies out of friends quickly."

"Oh, come on," Holland replied. "Jurgens isn't gonna get angry at us." He thought he saw Hap roll his eyes, but it was difficult to tell.

The display that communicated with the engineering deck turned on. In the small, barely lit room, stood Jobs and Dominic. Jobs moved to speak first.

"Nice landing-" Jobs said.

"Thank-you, thank-you," Moondoggie said, bowing.

"-if you were trying to burn out the thrusters," Dominic added.

"What?" Holland asked.

"The thrusters," Dominic repeated. He and Jobs both had an exasperated look. Jeez, those guys worked well together, once Dominic had the ropes.

"What about them?" Holland prodded. He walked over to Hap's station, looking at the two engineers.

"Well, we still haven't done the repairs necessary after the battle three days ago," Jobs said slowly, "and Dominic and I don't know how long they'll hold out."

"Not a whole heck of a lot, though" Dominic said, his customary bike goggles on his forehead, reflecting the meager light in their room. Jobs nodded.

Holland ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright then, what do you suggest we do?" he asked.

"Yeah?" asked Moondoggie, annoyed.

"A straight, slow landing should do nicely," Jobs said.

"None of those sharp turns," Dominic said.

"Alright, alright already," Moondoggie said, and got up. He walked out of the bridge, and Gidget followed him, worry on her face.

"Looks like you wounded his pride," Ken-Goh smiled to the two engineers. Dominic looked guilty for a moment, then Jobs turned off the display.

"Alright Holland, time to see what this is about," Hap said. He got up.

"Yeah," Holland said, turning to leave the bridge, too. Everyone else followed him. It was something he was used to. These days, more people were following him than ever.

He shook his head. Things were crazy these days. People were crazy. The world was crazy. After everything that had happened, all that they had done...Everything Renton and Eureka had done...

Oh, sure, they still celebrated them. At least, some tower-states did. There were a few who believed Dewey had had it right. Holland made sure to keep the Gekko far away from those.

But really, they didn't believe anymore. People forgot things easily. Holland was reminded of something his brother had said to him.

_"People are idiots, Holland. If they don't see it, then it didn't happen. If someone, say their leader, says that it happened, than that's good enough, too. But, after the initial burst of ferocity, the people will forget."_

Why was he thinking about Dewey so much these days? He hated the bastard. Of course, that didn't stop him from being right. Holland's fist tightened unconsciously. He was still affecting them, even today.

Sometimes, Holland wondered, if Renton and Eureka could fit in. They had had so much hope that the world could become a better place. And look where the world had gone. Splitting up, the factions fighting amongst themselves in a bout of nationalism and idiocy.

Holland smiled. Talho still had hope. The crew of the Gekko still had hope. And, Holland had to admit it, so did he. They could make this world better. They could change things to how they were supposed to end up. This world wasn't perfect, it never would be. But if they had to sacrifice themselves to get it that much closer to the ideal world, than Holland knew he and his crew wouldn't hesitate.

He had known them all so long now. Except, maybe, for Dominic and Anemone. Of course, he mused, those two had been with them longer than Renton had, now. It was strange how much a couple months had completely changed the course of all their lives.

It had been weird, at first, having Dominic and Anemone aboard. In fact, things might have been a little bit uncomfortable. They reminded everyone a lot of Renton and Eureka, except that they were completely different at the same time. Dominic could be very passionate, like Renton, but was a bit more closed and quiet then the other. Anemone was bright and cheerful, just like Eureka, but also had a sarcastic stroke, and an overall more -human?- feel. At any rate, it had been exceedingly weird the first few months. In fact, Holland remembered Gidget breaking down after Dominic and his partner had shared an especially Renton-and-Eureka-like moment.

But, Holland, and Talho especially, who was able to keep an eye on things more while Holland was off talking to self-inflated politicians and stuff, could tell that they both felt out of place on the Gekko.

In the end, they had both joined the Gekko because there was no central government to help protect. They both felt that war between the towers, and the development of nations by those towers, was wrong, and it had seemed at the time that the Gekko was the only place to express that belief. Also, Holland had a sneaking suspicion that they felt they still owed Renton and Eureka.

A sudden flash of memories of those two, and Holland sighed. He knew that they'd probably never come back. He had always known that. He felt that Talho had felt otherwise, but if she wanted to be disappointed like that, than that was her choice.

The fact was, the entire crew of the Gekko found life... emptier without their favorite rash Human and earnest Coralian. Holland knew they all were still getting over it. They had never even really had the chance to say good-bye.

Gidget expressed daily the wish that they were back. She had made a scrapbook, with the other women's input, of everything. From photos at Tresor for Eureka, to photos taken at Renton's school. They made a chronicle of the pair's life, a tapestry of two destinies intertwined.

It wasn't enough.

Then, there was this whole thing with Stoner. He had left, saying that he had to move on. Holland knew that wasn't particularly true. He had just felt like a fifth wheel, Holland was sure of it.

But, it was Stoner's decision to make, not Hollands. So, he had let him go. That had hurt too. It had felt like the family forged in the fires of the end and subsequent rebirth of the planet was falling apart. Sure, they all still got to see him occasionally, but it wasn't the same.

And now, that same Stoner had invited them here for some crazy mystery reason that involved Renton and Eureka. Except... he had said they weren't with him. No, that wasn't true either.

He had said it was "complicated".

_Just what the hell is going on here?_

Holland paused in the hallway leading to the cargo bay. He should probably get Talho. Whatever was going down, she would want to be there.

He turned around, walking back up through the maze-like passages that made up the Gekko. The ship they had all lived in for... he didn't even remember how long exactly. Not anymore. It just felt like they had all been here since the beginning, even Dominic and Anemone. They were family.

It was kind of funny. Holland remembered Talho had told Renton once that the whole point of the Gekko wasn't to make some sort of family, or club, or whatever. But, in the end, that wasn't true. The Gekko was a family. They always would be. And if anyone from that family was threatened, he knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

_Like with Charles and Ray?_

He grimaced. No time to dwell on that kind of stuff now.

A knock on the door of their quarters. Talho opened the door, baby in her arms.. Holland immediately got a smile from the flesh-bundle. He grinned back, and ruffled baby Charles' barely noticeable curls.

"What is it?" Talho asked. "We've landed, right? I thought you'd be gone already." She looked more worn than Holland remembered, but then, so did he.

He shrugged. "Thought you might want to come. Stoner'll be there, and he says it's something about Renton and Eureka."

"What?" Talho yelled. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were just going to another political rally! You idiot!"

He flinched. Talho stormed to the other side of the room, and started assaulting different tasks she had to do.

"Something about Renton and Eureka? And Stoner? And I look horrible..." she tiraded, casting clothes out of their drawer – she was in a robe.

"The baby needs to be put to sleep," she continued, as said baby began to cry. Holland went over and took Charles from her, trying to calm it down.

"You were asleep..." Holland tried to justify, "And you barely get any sleep these days. I thought it would be fine if I just told you later, when you were awake."

Talho sighed.. "I suppose..."

"Yeah?"

She gave him an exasperated, if slightly amused look. "That's cheating, though. Why do you always have to fight dirty?"

He smiled, sensing he was out of danger. Holland was even able to get the baby relaxed and asleep, a task that he had found was much more difficult than any piloting he had ever done.

"So," he asked, walking up to her, "you wanna come or not?"

"I already told you," she said, hitting him with a shoe, "of course I do. You are just..." she slipped on the shoe, "So insensitive sometimes."

He kissed her. Holding her tight, until she relaxed. She smelled the same as she did when he had first met her. A general issue perfume – all the people she had worked with had worn it.

She sighed into his mouth. Letting go, she let him hold her in silence for a moment. The looked out the window of their room. The sun was just setting, the colors of the sky casting a tint on the ring. Renton and Eureka's ring. Holland could hear the soft noises of Baby Charles sleeping.

"You have to promise me something," Talho whispered, holding his hands around her.

"Hm?"

"Don't let me out of the loop like that. It's like... after we had this baby... that I've just been, I don't know, falling into the background." She looked away. "I don't think I can stand this whole domesticity thing. It's just... sometimes I feel forgotten."

He turned her around, looking straight into her eyes.

"Talho," he said as strong as he could. "After all we've been through... after all we've done, I don't think anyone's going to forget you. What's happening right now, is one thing.. There's all this stuff happening, and-"

"-It's happening without me!" Talho cried. "Things are changing, you're changing. The Gekko's changing, and I just can't keep up." She looked really worried. Holland shook his head, and held her.

"You're the mother of this family," Holland said, glancing at the sleeping Charles. "And not just that. The whole family. Gekkostate. No matter what happens, I'm sure you'll never be far from the center of it." He gave her a trademark smile. "Besides, you'd probably force yourself in if someone tried to shut you out."

She gave him a watery smile.

"Idiot," she said. "Get out, I have to get dressed. Don't bore Stoner so much he leaves before I get there."

Holland raised an eyebrow.

"_Me_ bore _him_?"

With one last kiss, and a loving glance for the slumbering baby, Holland left the room, hands in his pockets.

He passed the Gekko's store on his way down. Hilda had been running it since Renton left. He could still see the kid standing there, restocking their provisions, or showing Eureka's kids some new trick or toy.

The kids. Holland smacked his forehead. Before they got this call from Stoner, they were supposed to go see them. They wouldn't be happy.

He rubbed his eyes. There was just too much shit these days. Too much going on. Who would've thought things would get complicated after the fairytale was over?

Holland walked out the main hatch, taking a quick one-over of all the LFOs. They looked fine, although he'd have to check with Dominic to be sure. The kid had taken the LFOs almost as his personal charges, and Anemone helped him extensively. Turned out he had the potential for a good mechanic. The two of them.... were just too much like the other two some days. He didn't want to keep retreading the point, but it just bore restating.

The weather outside was pleasant; It really was. A small flock of skyfish rose from the hill beyond, tiny silhouettes in the deepening maroon sky. There wasn't too much of a wind. Holland stood for a moment on the Gekko's ramp, eyes closed reading the waves.

Jeez, something was really making the Trapar currents go crazy recently.

The wind messed with his hair and his scarf. It always did that, ever since he was a kid. His dad had told him the Trapar payed special attention to him because he was destined for greatness.

_Well, that sure turned out to be bull._

"Hmph."

Holland put his arm down. He didn't have time for all this. The Trapar meant less these days then they used to.

He jogged down the ramp, looking around at the hotel Stoner was laying up at. It was alright, especially considering the state of Warsaw. Jurgens had been making progress on all the ruins, but there were still many relics from the civil war that once raged here.

Walking down the highway toward the hotel, Holland wondered how Jurgen's kids were doing. He had to admit, Jurgens always followed through on his promises. And, if he was any judge, Holland would bet those kids he'd adopted were responding.

But, he admitted, he really wasn't any judge. He hadn't really had any experience raising children - so far only a years worth of cleaning up after

Charles. Holland really wasn't sure how he'd do when his child could think for itself. Would it like him? Would they get along? What would Charles like to do? Holland couldn't answer those questions.

"You can't see the future, Holland. Really, it might as well be some other universe for all that it should matter to you. All that matters is the present, and what you do with it."

Holland shivered, even though it was turning out to be a fairly warm night. His brother's words seemed to echo in his mind. Holland saw in a flash the mess of Dewey's face that only a butcher would have recognized.

He was interrupted from his reverie by a sound that he knew uncomfortably well: fangirls.

Looking over, he saw a bunch of wannabe lifters charging toward him from the other side of the highway.

"Damn. Always at the worst possible..."

It figured. If he ever went to the end of the Earth, Holland would bet there would be a couple fans waiting to ambush him. Fortunately, he knew precisely what to do in this situation, practiced as he was; run as fast as his legs would carry him.

"Hey, guys!" Talho came running over, intercepting the overeager fans. She somehow sequestered herself between them and Holland.. He didn't really know how she did it.

"Talho...."

"You can thank me later," she whispered back, "just go see Stoner. Hap, Ken-Goh, and Matthieu are already there."

He nodded. Talho turned to the fans, who were waiting expectantly, asking him for autographs, and generally being fans.

"Would you guys like a quick tour of the Gekko?" Talho asked to unanimous squeals of ascent. She walked off, instant entourage in tow, leaving

Holland standing in relief under a street lamp. Said lamp suddenly blinked to life: the sun was now completely gone, and the night had descended. It was still fairly light; with the ring and moon, it had always been light at night these days.

Holland took a deep breath. He'd have to thank Talho later. He started his walk again, hoping Stoner had something to drink.

More footsteps.

"What now?" Holland wondered aloud, stopping again. He turned around.

"Commander Holland! It's us!"

_What?_

Holland's breath caught in his chest. He could have sworn that Renton and Eureka were running at him from across the road. He blinked.

"Renton?" he asked weakly. "Eureka? You... you're back?"

"Commander, we're so glad you came to find us!" Renton said, as they drew nearer, slowing down.

Holland could see their faces by the light of the street lamps. It was Renton and Eureka. They looked a bit different. Older, maybe. But that only made sense.

He broke out in a giant grin.

"You're back!" he practically yelled, and went over to hug them both. They met in the middle of the road, and Holland attempted to embrace them both.

However, Renton pulled away, and Eureka... hid behind him?

"Commander... are you... the real you? The Holland we know?" Renton asked uncertainly.

"Why do you keep calling me-"

"Answer the question."

Holland paused, looking at the two; he stared at the pair he and his entire crew had missed since almost the moment they left.

"Of course I am! What the HELL is going on here? Where have you guys been?" he exploded.

"Did Nirvash kill two of your crew-members after they attacked Eureka?" Renton continued, looking a bit desperate. He spoke in an imperious tone Holland had never heard him use.

"I.... you.... Renton?"

Holland was beginning to realize what Stoner had been talking about.

"You're... _not_.... Renton, are you?" he asked. He looked at Eureka. She was... just staring at him, like she'd never seen him before. "And Eureka, too?"

The person in front of him who could not be Renton shook his head. "I don't think so. Not your Renton, anyway. I'm pretty sure from everything I've seen that... for some reason, there's _two_ of us."

"Two of you? I don't understand..." Holland spoke quietly. "Are you two... real? Am I dreaming?"

_Or tripping._

Although, Holland thought that was pretty unlikely. He had never really been able to get in to drugs, after the first time. He had come back to his senses on top of someone's roof, naked.. Dewey had called him a disgrace.

"Renton?" Eureka... or whatever, spoke for the first time. "We're not going home?"

"No, I don't think so, Eureka," Renton said.

"But..." Eureka's lip quivered, "I want to go home now. My garden...."

"I know, Eureka," this Renton said, "please just wait a little longer. I'm sure our... friends will find us here. They've been here before."

Holland watched all this, a sinking sensation in his chest. Eureka and Renton weren't back. This wasn't them. It couldn't be them. It was... it wasn't them. He had been right all along. They weren't going to come back. His hands hung limply at his side, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"Why the _hell_ are you guys here?" he finally managed, glaring at the imposters. The kid matched his gaze, easily. The long-haired Eureka looked nervously between the both of them.

No, this was definitely not his Renton and Eureka.

"Just want to go home," Eureka said nervously, addressing both Holland and Renton. The kid looked at her, and Holland thought he could see him relax a little bit.

"Look, Commander-"

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Holland asked annoyedly. This kid could at least be less annoying. His personality wasn't Renton-ish at all. It bugged Holland.

The kid looked at him, a little surprised. "That's what you are, isn't it? Commander Holland, People's Liberation Army? Under Captain Talho, of the Gekko?"

Holland shook his head. This whole conversation was starting... no, had felt like a dream since the beginning. Holland put a hand behind his head. "Jeez, People's Liberation Army? Never heard of it. Besides, I'd polish Dewey's shoes before I joined the military again."

"Well then," Renton said, "what are you?"

Holland allowed himself a little smile.

"Trust me, kid. I've been trying to figure out the same thing for about a year now," he said, looking at the pair in front of him.

"But, if anything, I guess you can just call me Holland."

Renton grimaced. "Just.... Holland, Commander?"

"Yeah, whatever," Holland said.

"Well, Holland, sir," Renton began, looking at Eureka, then at the sky, "Eureka is right. We just want to go home. And, if our Gekko doesn't come for us, which I'm beginning to think is the truth, then we might need your help."

Holland pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting a headache.

"Look," he said slowly,"just slow down, alright? Give me a chance to get used to the idea you _exist_ before giving you help. Jeez, I'm still not sure that I'm not just dreaming you guys up."

He paused.

"Wait, did you say _your_ Gekko?"

Eureka nodded. "Talho, and Wendy, and Commander, and Mischa, and..." she quickly listed all the names of the Gekko crew, excluding Dominic and Anemone, and strangely, Hap and Stoner.

Renton looked at her. "You remembered all those?" he asked, astonished.

Eureka nodded, enthusiastically. "They're nice," was all she said.

Holland blew some air out of the side of his mouth, running a hand through his hair.

"So... what's up with your Eureka?" he asked.

Renton visibly struggled to find the right words.

"She's.... like a blank book."

Holland laughed. "What else is new?" he asked. Then, he realized what this Renton meant.

"Wait, you mean she's... only just been born?"

Renton shrugged. "Something like that."

"Huh."

Holland felt his brain needed time to digest. He suddenly remembered why he was out here in the first place.

"You two..." he asked, "are staying with Stoner, right?"

Eureka nodded. "He talks too much," she said.

Holland grinned. Maybe these kids weren't so bad.

"Well, I've got to go talk to him about all this. You know which room he's in?"

"Yeah," Renton said.

"Okay," Holland said, looking down the road at the hotel, it's gaudy sign flashing neon in the night. "You wanna go up there with me?"

Eureka looked at Renton, who shrugged.

"Sure," he said.

Without another word, Holland started walking briskly to the hotel. He had a lot he wanted to talk to Stoner about

He found him, in his suite with the some of the others, sitting and chatting with Matthieu, who was showing Stoner some record, or CD, or something. The... other Renton and Eureka had opted to stay downstairs after learning of the crowd in the room. Pretty much everyone else was there, except Talho, Dominic, Jobs, and Woz. Someone had brought drinks, and not soda-pop. Everyone was laughing, and having fun. It was always like this when the whole family got together. Holland had no idea what level of partying would ensue if Renton and Eureka actually came back. He felt pity for Talho. He'd have to repay her, somehow.... she'd kill him if he didn't. Fortunately, he had a few ideas how he could do it.

Holland put his hand on Stoner's shoulder. His green-jacketed friend looked up, and then stood up quickly.

"Holland," he said. "Finally. Look, I really have to tell-"

"I need to talk to you. About... the other two." Holland interrupted.

"You met them?"

"Yeah, and I want to talk."

Stoner nodded. "Yeah, me too."

They walked out onto the large balcony attached to the suite. Nobody else was out there, as it was getting kind of chilly. Holland leaned forward against the safety-rail, looking out over the road, and beyond. A sea of hills and small gulleys lay spread out in sleep, only broken up by the outline of metropolitan Warsaw in the distance, the tower for which it was named looming over all precedings in the background. All was lit by the slight green glow of the ring, and the pale blue of the moon.

Stoner leaned out over the rail to the right of Holland. The photographer pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. Holland raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were going to quit. Your publicist told you to, right?"

Stoner coughed. "Yeah, and they told me to shave, too."

The pair descended into comfortable silence. Contrary to popular belief, Holland had always found Stoner knew when to be quiet as well as he did to voice his – considerable – opinion.

"So..." Holland decided it was time to talk.

"They just showed up," Stoner said, shrugging. "During the rains. Drenched to the bone. Renton – and yes, I'm sure he's _a_ Renton, just not our Renton – later told me that he had been in Warsaw in his world before he left, except that it hadn't been raining."

"Wait," said Holland, interrupting with a little laugh. "What's this _his_ world stuff? Are you really saying that-"

"He's from another world, much like ours? Yes," Stoner said.

"But that's-"

"Impossible? Have you looked at the moon?" he gestured to the glowing satellite. "Some people would say that that's impossible. This Renton did. He's never seen anything like it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And not only that, Holland, but it's little things... little things that he says are different."

"Like...what?"

"Just things you wouldn't even think about. Not recognizing any company labels, and famous people, besides us. I'm sure you ran into that when you met them.."

Holland sighed. "Yeah. It was like.... for a second, I actually believed that they were back. And then, he started calling me Commander, and... I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair.

"It was like that for me, too," Stoner said, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "I thought they were... our Eureka and Renton, and then... you just don't know anymore. Like the carpet's been pulled out from under you, and everything you know has been flipped on it's head."

"How did they get here?" Holland wondered aloud. Stoner remained silent.

"I don't know," he finally said. "All I can get out of Renton is something about a flower... but I don't really understand what happened. Maybe, if we could take this to Dr. Bear..."

Holland scratched his chin. It wasn't a bad idea. Maybe even a great one.

"Yeah, I wonder how he's doing. Haven't talked much with him since... it all happened," he said.

"Anything else?' Stoner asked.

"I don't really know..." Holland paused. "What about this... Eureka?"

"Oh, her?" Stoner nodded his head. "I know what you're thinking. From what I can tell, she's essentially how our Eureka was at the beginning. No language, no knowledge of how things work here," he said, and then stopped, looking at Holland.

"But here's the weird thing," he continued. "She doesn't act like our Eureka did. She acts perfectly... human."

"But... I don't..." Holland complained.

"I don't get it either," Stoner said, taking a long draw on his cigarette. He blew it out. "But they're nice kids. They just want to go home. If we can, I think we should help them."

"Help them _how_, exactly?" Holland asked testily. He felt trapped. He almost wanted to help these kids that looked so much like their long-lost friends, but... he didn't know if he could. First of all, he didn't know the first thing they could do to get these guys home. Secondly, he didn't know if doing so would affect... something... in some way. Holland had learned that when it came to these sorts of things, it was better if one didn't bumble around in the dark. And finally, there were other things they already had lined up. In their world, the one they were trying to save from itself.

"Once again, Holland. I think we should go to Tresor. I think it's our best bet at making sense of all this."

"Is this really all _real_?" Holland asked the stars.

"Holland," Stoner said, "if there's one thing I've found out about these kids, it's that they're real. Different, yes. Not from here, maybe. But real, nonetheless."

"Alright," Holland said grumpily. "I'll talk to Talho about it."

"She still runs the ship, huh?" Stoner asked playfully. Holland gave a short laugh.

"You have no idea."

They both looked out at the sky for a moment longer. Holland was about to go back inside when Stoner spoke.

"I wonder if our Renton and Eureka are looking at the same sky we are tonight?"

"Honestly, Stoner? I wouldn't hold my breath."

........................................................

Eureka coughed as she awoke. She opened her eyes: a sandy bank next to a pleasantly gurgling stream. She could hear a larger river in the distance, although she couldn't see it. Maybe this stream was a tributary. The early morning sun bounced off the water, playing in the trees.

She wondered momentarily why they were on a beach. Probably, her and Renton had been sitting on the beach, watching the stars wheel by, and then just decided to sleep there.

But still, she felt horrible. Had they had any mountain-climbing expeditions recently?

It didn't matter all that much though, in the end. Both her and Renton, they had found, were uncommonly good healers. They could both be back on their feet in no-time after an accident.

She should probably wake Renton up. They had been wanting to make good time recently, trying to get to the Mediterranean they had both read about.

Eureka rolled over on the sand, her wings shifting under her.

"Renton?" she called. "Renton? Time to get up."

No answer.

Eureka was suddenly wide awake. She pushed herself up on the sand, looking around. Renton was nowhere to be seen.

Drowning.

She gasped. It all came back to her. The river, pulling her, almost being smashed against the rocks.. Being pulled under, the current pushing her down this tributary. Struggling on to the beach – falling asleep from exhaustion. She remembered everything.

_But Renton? Is Renton alright?_

She didn't know. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know where Renton was. She didn't know anything.

She scanned her surroundings. Just as she had thought, it was only a nondescript sandbank surrounded by twisting trees. At least, the trees looked similar to where she had been. Where she and Renton had been.

_No._

She couldn't give up hope. Renton wouldn't have wanted her to. Now he was lost, and she would have to find him. Eureka hoped this trip to find Renton wouldn't come out the same as her last one – clutching desperately to the edge of an LFO's turbine.

Of course, then again, Renton had saved her, and they had ended up together in the Gekko in the end. So maybe she did want things to go like that other time.

But what should she do to find him? She didn't even know where she was.

Eureka paced up and down the sand, her wings quivering in tension.

Maybe... maybe it would be better if she got help first. If she had learned anything from all of their adventures, it was that things were much easier and worked out better when you were part of a team. Doing things by yourself... making choices by yourself... often led to...

She brought a hand up to where her scars had been on her face.

Well, anyway, everything would probably be alright if she was able to contact the Gekko. Holland would know what to do.

She looked up into the sky. The great ring smiled down on her; their ring. Eureka bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. She managed to stop herself, and wiped away the rest. She had to focus, or else Renton might be lost forever. She would never be able to stand that.

Finding a high place to look out on her surroundings sounded like a good place to start. She looked around, and saw a hill off in the distance, rising above the blanket of trees.

She walked out into the thick branches, the ground turning from sand to rough dirt strewn with shrubs, logs and sticks. Eureka wasn't worried by this terrain. Her and Renton had lived in this kind of place for a.... year, she guessed. They had had to traipse through much worse on their 'round-the-Earth journey.

Sticks cracked under her feet. She was just glad that her clothes had... mostly dried out in the night, although her... or Renton's jacket was still a little damp on the inside. Her wings seemed perfectly dry, anyway.

Her wings. She felt them wave a bit lazily in the gentle breeze of the forest as she walked. They were firm and smooth, soft and warm. She still hadn't quite gotten used to feeling them, almost like a cross between feeling sensations through the hair, and an arm. But, at least they helped her survive out here. Renton and her had found that when he was cold, she thought it was only cool, and when he was sweating, she found it pleasant. Renton said her wings must have some way to help regulate her body heat.

When they were kissing, or just sitting together, sometimes, he liked to caress them. He always said they were so beautiful, so soft. It actually felt nice; it made her feel secure and comfortable, for some reason. They would just sit for hours, sometimes, watching the Earth, silent except for the natural noises of the night around them.

Eureka's heart hurt. She almost started crying again.. She needed Renton with her. Needed to find him. But, she wouldn't be able to do that if she just sat around feeling sorry for herself. That she knew.

She stormed up the slope of the hill, leaving the wooded canopy behind her. The hill was covered in all kinds of wildflowers – almost as though a rainbow had settled down and covered the hill. Eureka ignored the beauty; she had a job to do.

On the top of the hill, the wind blew strong, almost as strong as when she and Renton had been in the hand of that woman's KLF. Eureka felt her hair blow behind her face and wildly around her head. It wasn't too long, just about shoulder length. It hadn't really grown all that much while they had been traveling. She didn't know why. It was the same thing with Renton, too. His hair hadn't really grown out that much at all.

She looked out across the land from her sentry point. It looked like the river had led out of the mountainous area where they had been. She could still see the valley from where she was, its gates granite peaks. The landscape around her hill was all rolling mounds covered in forest, with the river winding it's way along between them, cutting away wide swaths of the wood.

But, far away, she could make out the clear outline of what she knew to be the Warsaw tower. Annika had said that that was where the Gekko was. Where Holland was. If she could make it there in a day, find them, and make it back to look for Renton in another day, then he would still be alright, right? She knew he could survive in the wilderness for at least that long. They both could.

_But I don't even know if he's still alive._

She shook her head. Of course Renton was still alive. He had to be. There was no way he would just... leave her like that, was there?

Wait... then why had she woken up by herself? Wouldn't Renton have come after her? Tried to follow her? He wouldn't have if he was-

_NO. Stop that. He's alive. Probably looking for you._

Besides, she didn't know the whole story. There had to be a good reason he wasn't with her right now. Maybe it was as simple as the current pulling him away to somewhere else after he tried to follow her.

From where she stood, Eureka thought her best bet would be to find Holland, and the rest of the Gekko. If she did, she was sure everything else would turn out alright.

_Right?_

..........................................................

"You're all going to end up _killing_ yourselves.."

Holland sighed, looking out the window of the small lab facility. Tresor had survived mostly intact after The Flood, somehow. He could see the ocean from here, seabirds flying lazy circles over their new home.

The building in which they were meeting was small, but tall, with large, thin glass windows giving a beautiful view out on the 'coast'. The room was bordered on three sides by shelves and cabinets, piled high with paperwork. More of the same manilla envelopes were strewn about the floor, and a pile of trash threatening to overflow it's can completed the impression of hasty scientist.

The scientist in question sat at a plain wooden desk, facing the door, also piled high with charts and graphs. A large computer monitor dominated the surface, and Sonia herself was in a plain office chair, glaring at the two intruders.

"But Sonia," Woz said, "you _said_ that if we could-"

"Yes," the blonde scientist admitted, "if you _could_ reproduce the exact conditions – which you can't – as at the Agony of Doha, then you could _conceivably_ – conceivably mind you – get to this... other dimension that you all saw last time."

"Great," Holland said. "Then why don't you just-"

The scientist sitting in front of them held up a finger.

"I'm not finished yet," she glared. "What you seem to fail to understand is that another break between the dimensions, like you created the last time, could produce catastrophic results on both sides of the rift!"

"Then why didn't that happen when Renton and Eureka went through with the flower, Sonia?" Woz asked.

She looked at him.

"I... I don't know," she said. "Are you sure that's what you saw? Woz, I don't mean to tell you that you're wrong, but it defies every natural law I know."

"_We_. _Are_. _Absolutely_. _Sure_." Holland said through clenched teeth. "We've been over this before."

"Yes, I know...." Sonia said, uncertainly.

"Sonia," Woz said reasonably, putting his hands on her desk, "let's say, hypothetically, if it was possible, how would we do it without failing this time?"

She looked down.

"I can't," she said. "The chance that you'd all end up dying is too high. I would never be able to forgive myself if I never-"

Woz interrupted her, putting his hand over hers. "Please, Sonia? For old times sake? I always liked to think I could depend on you for anything."

Sonia's face soured.

"Yeah," she said, pulling away from Woz and getting up from her computer, "but that was before you all were determined on breaking _Reality in two_, and killing yourself, not to mention possibly _everyone else on_ _Earth!"_

Holland decided it was time to interject.

"Look, Ms. Wakabayashi," he started patiently. "We wouldn't have come to you at all if it wasn't important. There are already lives at stake, regardless of what might happen if we tried to save them.."

She looked at him as though she had only just noticed he was there.

"How do you know that?" she questioned him. "How do you know that these two – Renton and Eureka - aren't happier where they are now?"

Holland blinked.

_Yeah, how do you know, hot-shot?_

He shook his head, dispelling doubt.

"Because," he said, "what if I'm right, and you're wrong? What if they need our help?"

"I still think this is just about making up for those horrible things you did before," Sonia said, looking at Woz. "And I think it's stupid. You don't even really know these kids, do you?"

"No, not really," Woz said, looking at Holland. "But, you're right. We're making up for our mistakes. And that's what we're going to do, whether you help us or not."

She looked at him, and Holland thought he saw some tears in her eyes.

"God, you're always so different, Woz," she said, smiling. "I never know what you're going to do. Maybe that's what I love about you." She turned to Holland.

"If you're really going to go through with this-"

"Which we are," Holland said.

"- then you're going to need a particular energy source."

"What kind?" Woz asked.

She sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose with a manicured finger.

"This is all classified, you understand," she warned them. "I'm not technically supposed to be telling you about this."

She took a fortifying breath.

"It's number in the military database is L-17-10. Some call it the Dream Energy."

"Dream-" Woz started.

"-Energy, yes," Sonia continued. "It was sometimes found in places temporarily reclaimed from the Image. Supposedly, it's an energy source that can even manipulate reality to an extent."

"How does it help us?" Holland asked.

"Because," Sonia said, "when used in combination with a Compac drive and an able pilot, it would produce results similar to those at the Agony. The only difference is, these were much more controlled rifts, although even then, the tests were conducted underground to try and ward off any... accidents."

"What? Are you saying that the whole experiment that turned us into... into freaks _wasn't_ even _necessary_?" Holland demanded. Sonia looked away, a little guiltily.

"Well, the military didn't really want word of this to filter down to the more... radical elements, especially Warsaw Base and Research Center."

Holland slumped into a chair nearby. There was a long pause, both Holland and Woz sitting in silence, Sonia busying herself running tests on her computer monitor.

"Sonia? How would we use this to save Renton and Eureka?" Woz asked, finally.

A reflection of the computer screen shone in Sonia's glasses, giving her almost a mad scientist look. She pushed said glass up the bridge of her nose, then turned to Woz.

"I think I know how you could do it."

"How long?" Holland asked.

"Give me two days," the scientist said.

"How about one?"

Sonia thought about it.

"Fine. I suppose I could. But why?"

"Why?" Holland asked. "Because, we have no idea what kind of trouble those kids are getting themselves into over there. Every second counts."

......................................................................

(Author's note: I'm going to start throwing random ideas out in this space and want to see people's reactions to them. Some of them will be ideas I'm seriously considering, others might just be random stuff to throw you all off what I'm really thinking. =P )

So, without further adieu, if you had to pick one, would you prefer movieNirvash or tvNirvash? Both in their final forms, of course. Or, would you like both? Or none? Please respond.

Finally, credit to Alaska-sama for translating my erroneous scribble to readable prose.


	5. Fire on the Mountain

"Do you see anything?" Annika called up.

"I think..." Renton peered through the branches. He brought a hand up and covered his eyes from the clear sunlight, but almost lost his balance. Recovering, he clung on to what branches he could, and made sure he had a good footing.

The wind was very strong above the treetops. The rippling leaves around him gave Renton the impression of a vast herd of animals, all moving and rocking together. He ducked his head down a little to avoid the considerable breeze; his hold on the small branches at the top of the tree wasn't really all that firm. Although, in the end, he wasn't really all that worried, as only his chest and head extended above the tree's leaves.

Renton peered around everywhere he could, either for a sign of Eureka, or for any ships or KLFs in the area, like he had been told to do. He had thought he had seen a glint on the air, a couple kilometers off, high above the forest.

But, looking again, it was only a large skyfish.

_Aren't those only supposed to appear when you're having fun?_

Renton shook his head and bent down beneath the canopy so Annika could hear him.

"No..." he called down despairingly, "I was wrong. I don't see anything."

"Dang," Renton heard his companion say to herself. "Well, if you don't see any ships or anything, I suppose that means we'll have to walk back."

He climbed a little bit down the tree, resting in a more stable crook in the trunk. He could see the coppery-haired woman from here, pacing the earthen floor.

She looked up at him.

"Say," she asked, "could you go back up there and see if you can spot any towns? Actually, look for towers. They're easy to spot. Preferably Warsaw, but hell, I'm not going to be picky."

Renton nodded, and pushed himself back up through the treetops. The sun was so much brighter above the trees, and the moon – it's heart beaming down on them – clearly visible.

He looked around again. Most of the horizon was occupied by rolling hills covered in forest, and further on, the mountains from which they had came.

But off to his right, Renton thought he might be able to see Warsaw tower. It was barely visible, but Renton didn't know anything else that was that tall and monolithic.

_The Control Cluster was pretty big._

Renton frowned. Now wasn't really the time to be having walks down memory lane. Having found his goal, he scrambled back down through the branches. Grunting, he backed down the trunk of the aged tree.

He jumped the last couple feet, startling Annika, who had been turned the other way. She glared at him for a small moment, but quickly masked it.

"Yeah, I saw it," Renton said, ignoring the look. "Off to the northeast. I'd say maybe two days walk, more if we have to go around any rivers."

Annika nodded.

"I thought so," she said. Then, she started walking off in the direction Renton had specified.

"Where are you going?" Renton asked.

"Where do you think?" Annika called over her shoulder.

Renton's hand formed a fist.

"And what about Eureka?" he demanded.

"We've been over this before, Renton Thurston," Annika said, climbing over a fallen log. "Firstly, we've searched for her for an entire day already. Besides, since we haven't found her immediately, I'm going to say we can't help Eureka until we get reinforcements. Even with them, it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack, you know? Just the two of us... we wouldn't stand a chance."

"But that's not good enough!" Renton grumbled, storming off after his traveling companion. The terrain here was rough and covered in detritus, but Renton didn't notice it. "What if she needs our help _now_?"

"Once again, since you seem to have forgotten," Annika said, not even turning around. She pushed some low hanging branches out of the way as she walked. "If Eureka is in need of serious medical attention, we wouldn't be able to give it to her, even if we did find her. Secondly, if she's near death.... oh, don't make that sound at me, I'm only saying.... then she would probably be gone already by the time we reached her anyway. Quid pro quo, her likeliest chance of survival in any condition is for us to find help."

Both of them tread through the underbrush in silence for a while.

Renton fumed. He knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to know exactly where Eureka was, if she was alright, if she was worried, if she was scared. He wanted to be with her. But the forest was just too big. He had no idea where he was at the moment, let alone Eureka.

There was the sound of engines. The forest around them broke out in the cry of small animals, and the trees groaned in complaint. The roar passed over them quickly, and faded into a whine somewhere in the distance.

"Wait a minute, I know those engines..." Annika muttered to herself.

She took off through the trees.

"Wait, what's going on?" Renton called after here. He kicked at the dirt, and then ran after her, grumbling under his breath.

He stumbled through the dense forest, branches and twigs pulling at his clothes. He tripped over a root, sprawling onto the ground. He looked back, and saw that the bottom of his shoe had been torn off.

_Great, and I need new shoes, on top of everything._

Of course, that had probably been coming to him, considering what he and his shoes had been up to the past year. Renton discarded the upper part of his shoe still hanging around his ankle, got up, and pressed on, following the glint of Annika's hair through the trees.

The trees parted, and Renton slowed down as he stepped into a small clearing. Annika was there, a contemplative look on her face.

"What... was... that?" Renton panted.

Annika looked at him, as if just remembering he was there.

"Oh," she said. "It was a small Tybre-Class Battleship."

"How do you know?" Renton asked, actually curious.

"Because," she said, her face brightening a little bit, raising a hand and pointing at a thin trail of clouds high in the air, "of the trail left behind by their ship. You know the rapid cooling of the air around the ducts of a ship, in tandem with the Compac Drive, is what allows it to tap into the Trapar, right? Well, that cooling leaves behind a trail like that one there."

"Yeah, I know," Renton said. "But how could you tell what type of battleship it is?"

She shrugged. "Because of the size of the trail. It's not that hard."

But then the clouds came back across her face, and she started pacing.

"Uh... Ms. Annika?"

She started talking, almost to herself.

"But the exact shape of the trail didn't match what a battleship from Warsaw Tower's fleet would have left. The angle of the trail would have made for an impossible flying trajectory for one of our ships."

She snapped.

"I bet it's Kebrenac! They don't have access to the same resources we do, and their ship's wings are made out of different stuff. The wings on their ships have a slight tick to them on the end, for better maneuverability, although it sacrifices some speed, in my opinion. That trail would match their ships capabilities perfectly."

Then she looked at Renton, worry on her face.

"But..." she said slowly. "What is one of Kebrenac's ships doing in our airspace? We're not at war with them. They're one of our few allies, matter of fact!"

"Against who?" Renton asked.

"Against..." Annika started, but stopped quickly. She looked at him, eyebrow raised. "Since when do people have to be allied against somebody? Can't they just be allies?"

Renton shrugged. "Yeah, but that doesn't make any sense, considering you guys obviously are at war."

Annika smiled at him. "You're pretty quick, Renton Thurston. Yeah, we're allied against Brosendell."

She looked at the sky.

"But if that's the case, then why exactly do they have any ships back here? The front is about as far south from here as you can get. They shouldn't have any battleships this deep in our territory."

"The front is South of here?" Renton asked. "Then who were those guys you were fighting earlier?"

"Oh," she said, "that was just a stupid raid into our territory. Nothing as serious as the front."

"You mean..." Renton said, with a sinking feeling, "the fighting is more serious elsewhere?"

"Well, yeah," Annika shrugged. "With all the world pretty much at war with itself, what'd you expect?"

Renton looked down at the leaves collected at his feet. He didn't know what he'd expected. He supposed he'd just hoped...

"Look at it this way," Annika said, counting off numbers on her fingers. "First, you guys let a charismatic, power-hungry dictator come into power. The people flock to him. Second, you completely destroy people's faith in such a centralized government by exposing said dictator – whom everyone trusted – as a complete crackpot. Third, you and Eureka cause half of the planet to crumble away into nothingness, revealing an entirely new planet that has huge potential for colonization. Fourth, along with half of the planet's land mass, those that are on that land, roughly half the entire population of human beings in existence, also cease to exist. Fifth, a combination of all these events leads to a complete imbalance of the world's market, causing a collapse of all industry and government – or at least, what little government was left after all the rebellions and protests. Finally, small, regional governments organized around the towers that the people have looked up to for so long, and are now essentially their only option for trade with other towers, and therefore their only hope for survival, are formed. These 'Tower-States' naturally compete with each other over the now rather scant resources and industries, and – when combined with a generally super-nationalist outlook on things – result in almost simultaneous war across the planet." She paused, looking at Renton with a sad look on her face. "So tell me, Thurston, what did you expect?"

Renton felt...

"How could you do this? This wasn't supposed to happen! We saved the planet-" he said.

"Yes," Annika said, nodding her head, "and I'm truly grateful for that. Everyone is. I'm just stating the facts of how the world is, and how we've all had to accept that it is over the past year. I was simply wondering what you had thought would happen."

Renton wasn't finished.

"That's not the point. This wasn't what we wanted the world to be like. It's not.... what we wanted," he said, the tumultuous last few days, and maybe even the last couple years, spilled out of him. But for some reason he couldn't feel anger. He just felt defeated. "We just tried make it so that things could stay the way they were."

Annika smiled a little. "That's not how the world works. You can't keep it from changing." She looked up at the sky again. Her voice held just a touch of bitterness. "Tom always said Novak and the rest of them never planned ahead. I guess he's right."

Renton took a deep breath. He sat down in the grass, feeling very much like he had after Dewey's death had activated Eureka's collar. The thought of Eureka almost made him break down again, and he clenched his teeth.

"It doesn't matter," he said quietly to Eureka. Maybe, somehow, she would be able to hear him. "I still made a promise we would set things right. And as soon as I find you, that's what we're going to do."

Something in Annika's face softened, and she knelt down, putting a restrained hand on Renton's shoulder.

"Look..." she said slowly, "maybe I was being a bit too harsh. I mean, you guys were just trying to take one thing at a time, right? And nobody can tell the future."

This time, Renton let her gloved hand sit on his shoulder. He didn't know why. Maybe he just didn't care all that much. Besides, she was just trying to be nice.

And he realized he felt better, now that everything was out of the way. Since they came back, he had been worried that something like this was happening. But, now that it was out in the open, he felt better for some reason.

Eureka probably would've said something right about now. But since she wasn't here...

"Thank-you," Renton said, standing up. He paused, for a moment, as Annika stood up as well. Renton bent down to tighten one of his beaten and worn shoelaces. When he stood up again, he realized something about the conversation.

"Now that I think about it," Renton said, smiling a little, "you aren't as enthusiastic about all this war as you let on, are you? You just want people to think you are. Why's that?"

Annika opened and closed her mouth a couple times.

"You... it's not... reasons are...." she sputtered.

Renton grinned, and started to walk away in the direction the ship had flown over them – the direction of Warsaw.

"I guess there's some things," he said as he walked away, "you still have to learn about."

He heard silence behind him, and then Annika's grudging footsteps slowly followed.

They trudged on for a while, next to a small brook that appeared. Renton, for all that was happening, couldn't help but feel... sure of himself. He didn't know what it was. He just felt like he knew exactly what he wanted, and how to get it.

_Eureka_...

But that was the thing. It wasn't like before, when he didn't know himself, or what he wanted, or how to do it. This time, he would get her back. This time, there was no uncertainty. And he knew, this time, that Eureka would keep herself safe until he found her.

That was the difference, Renton realized. The trust they had for each other was stronger than it had ever been during their early adventures. The could do this together. Their promises were still there, binding them both. They still hadn't seen Maurice, Maeter, and Linck. They still hadn't done everything they had promised to do.

An image of Eureka, slowly being absorbed by the ghostly light of the Scubs, entered Renton's mind. Her body, covered in the rough, slimy substance. Driving in Nirvash, panicking, as fast as he could through the caves as they collapsed around them. He had almost lost her.

Renton shook his head. Nothing like that could possibly happen, not anymore. They both were smarter than that now. Older.

He decided there needed to be a change of subject.

"So," he asked Annika, who was walking quietly behind him, clearly absorbed in her own thoughts. She looked up from the forest floor. "If this is your guys' enemy, what are you going to do about it?"

She thought for a moment, looking at him. Did he see something – different? - in her eyes, now? He couldn't place what it was, but Renton could definitely see something different about her now.

When she didn't answer, but kept thinking, Renton turned around again and just kept walking. He sighed, and realized, not for the first time in the past year, how much he really missed the Gekko's company.

They crossed over several hills, each with the sun further towards the west. As they progressed, Renton noticed the trees around them changing. Where before, all the foliage had been very green and proud, here the trees started to droop and had touches of gray in their palette.

Annika noticed him staring at the trees.

"Means we're getting closer," she said, nodding at a particularly gray oak.

"Why?" Renton asked, looking at her.

She shrugged. "The war."

"What have you guys been doing to the trees?" Renton asked, worriedly.

"Oh," Annika said, shaking her head, "not this war. The old one."

"The civil war?"

"Yeah, and all the genocide. I was still pretty young at the time, but I remember it."

"Did..." Renton asked slowly, "did you lose anyone?"

Annika nodded her head.

"Yeah," she said. "My mom died pretty early on in all the fighting, just random violence. My dad though, he died later. He was a medic. One of his patients was an enemy soldier that they had brought in. He had woke up earlier than they had expected from the sedative. He saw who was treating him – my dad – and stabbed him in the throat with a piece of medical equipment. Killed him pretty much instantly."

She stopped then, bringing a hand up to her collarbone. Under the flight suit she still wore, Renton thought he saw the outline of a necklace.

"I'm sor-"

"That's what's so great about the Chancellor, you see?" Annika looked up, smiling. "He's brought ethnic unity, and security to our people. His family died in the civil war, too, you know. He knows what it feels like. That's why we can trust him. He's not like that Dewey. He's one of us. Even those kids of his, and some people say they were Dewey's personal conspirators – can you believe that? - aren't bad. They might keep to themselves a lot, but they're really good at administration and stuff."

Renton nodded. "He seemed like a good guy when I met him."

"Yeah, he is," Annika said. "You know, when I was back in Communications, I had a hell of a lot of work all the time. I got about three hours of sleep a day. You know what happened?"

Renton shook his head.

"There was an inspection from the Chancellor. He came around, saw my station. He came up to me and said, 'You look tired. Why don't you take the day off?' Can you believe that? Well, after that, I..." She paused. Renton could tell she was about to say something else, but then she continued.

"...sorted out my priorities, and signed up for the military."

She stopped talking, and they both walked for another hour in silence. Renton wondered what she had been about to say.. In fact, he wondered quite a few things about Annika. Not the least of which was: could Eureka have been right about this woman? If things had turned out differently somewhere in the past, might she have been a good Gekko crew member?

"I don't think I would've signed up for the military," Renton said after they had crossed another stream. "I could never have fit in there. Besides," he said grinning a little bit, "my Grandpa never would have let me join. He wanted me to be a-"

"Mechanic," Annika finished. "Yeah, everybody knows. People say you were.... er... are, a pretty good one, too."

Renton shrugged, a little flustered.

"Well, I... uh, guess," he said. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Nirvash thought so, anyway."

"Nirvash," Annika said, walking beside him. "The Type Zero?"

"Uh... yeah," Renton said.

Annika's face lit up. "I've always wondered what it was like to pilot it! You have to tell me! Tom'll be so jealous!"

Renton didn't really know what to say.

"Well... I don't know. I mean, I think it was pretty much just like any other LFO..."

"They used LFOs with us in Basic Training, you know," Annika said. "Just to get the feel for the movement, right? I mean, people who passed that got to pilot KLFs, because they're 'superior'. After everything you and Eureka did, a lot of us wondered if that was really true."

"Yeah, well..." Renton said quickly, "a lot of that stuff is probably exaggerated."

Annika made a face.

"Look at you, being so modest. You know, Ray=Out has your personality completely right."

"Ray=Out?" Renton asked interestedly. "That's still going on?"

Annika nodded. "Yeah." she said, "pretty much everybody reads it. And it's not just for people with ref-boards underneath their pillow; not anymore. It has lots of articles on stuff that really matters, as well as pictures and articles on you guys.."

"Really?" Renton asked, nervously. He wondered what kind of photos Stoner was using.

"Although, I've still got to say, the way they portray Novak makes me sick. The guy isn't a _god_, for christ's sake!"

"Wait," Renton interrupted, "is Stoner still running the magazine?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I guess. He has this 'editors' column at the beginning. I don't really read Ray=Out all that often, to tell you the truth. Just the quarterly issues."

Something occurred to Renton that had never really occurred to him before.

"Is the whole crew of the Gekko still together?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know," Annika said, "since when?"

"Since the Second Summer of Love, I guess."

"I think so," Annika said, scratching her head, a feat not accomplished very easily considering the oversized glove she wore.

"I mean, that Stoner guy left... I don't know why-"

"Stoner left? Why?" Renton asked.

Annika shrugged. "I don't know. Something came up, I guess, and he decided to become a world renowned publisher instead. Not a bad trade, if you ask me."

"World-renowned?" Renton repeated under his breath.

"Other than that, though," Annika continued, "everything's pretty much the same. I mean, there's two new guys-"

"What? Who?" Renton asked in alarm. He didn't know why, but the thought made him feel... queasy.

_What if they've replaced us?_

"Oh, Sorrel and that other girl. They were in Dewey's pocket, before, but apparently had a change of heart. The Chancellor loves them, though. I met that guy... Dominic once, but I don't know. He seems a bit... quiet, I guess. It's funny though, when he and that girl, Anemone – and she's kind of nice, I'll admit - are together, they both seem to light up."

_Dominic... and Anemone?_

Renton remembered talking to Eureka only a week ago, now, about going to talk to those two when they got back. But... Gekkostate members? Renton didn't know.. They never really seemed like that type to him. If he could've bet, he would've said the two of them would be holed up somewhere in the wilderness together, just with each other.

_Like Will, and Martha._

Renton nodded to himself. That's what he thought would've happened to them. In fact, some part of him wanted that for his future, too. Just him, Eureka, the kids, and maybe his Grandpa together, away from all this. The Gekko could stop by whenever they wanted, too.

He wondered what happened to those two. Maybe one day, he would go visit them both.

The sun was just approaching the end of it's journey when Annika spoke again, both of them struggling to walk through the darkening forest.

"I've been thinking about your question," she said. "About what I would do about these guys, if they are the enemy? And I think, first thing I would do, assuming I don't have my KLF, would be to find their advance base. If they're not hooked in good and tight yet, than they're generally pretty easy to unhook. I mean, first priority would be to radio in support from Warsaw-Oberforth, but beyond that, sabotage would be needed, then probably stealing one of their KLFs."

Renton nodded. "You sound like you know what you're doing."

She rounded on him. "What makes you think I don't?"

He put his hands up. "Nothing! That's not what I meant!"

She coughed. "I get it. Girl like me... you guys are all the same. Just like my Captain."

"Oh, come on!" Renton said. "I've worked with Eureka, and Talho, and lots of other women who are way better at stuff than me! How could I possibly think that?"

She grinned. "I know, I was just messing with you."

Renton's shoulders drooped, and he sighed.

_I hate it when people do that._

Suddenly, Annika stopped. At about the same time, Renton noticed a light up in the trees ahead, and thought he could see figures moving in that light. He crouched down instinctively, and couldn't help but feel like he had been in this situation a hundred times before.

"You see it?" Annika whispered, crouching too.

"What is it?" Renton asked.

"Dunno. But I'm going to find out." the KLF pilot said. She started crawling, almost silently, towards the brightness filtering between the trees.

"Wait! Ms. Annika!" Renton hissed. He shook his head in annoyance. The Talho in his head told him this was what it felt like every time he ran off on his own. He tried to ignore that.

Instead, he decided it was probably best just to follow her. He moved forward as quietly as he could, and even had to remind himself a few times to keep breathing. Every snap of a twig or scuffle of dirt sounded terribly loud to him. He looked around for Annika, but found she had slipped away in the thick shadows that now pervaded the forest.

He looked ahead. He could see more clearly now that the lights were large floodlamps, illuminating a large section of forest. There were tents, lots of them, and what looked like some kind of technical equipment sitting off to the side.

Of course, in the middle of the camp, there were large camouflage tarps covering what Renton knew were KLFs. He could also make out a battleship like the one Annika had described, off in the trees, outside of the glare of the flood lights.

People in uniforms the same color as the tarps walked to and from their tents, most looking like they were busy and hard at work, although Renton saw a few sitting around a lamp playing a game of cards. There were sentries around the camp, every so often.

However, there weren't that many, Renton could see. Maybe five, covering the entire camp. There were none anywhere near where Renton crouched. Perhaps they didn't expect anyone to sneak up on them in the middle of a forest.

Then, someone's hand was across his mouth. Renton struggled, trying to get at whoever had grabbed him, but they held him tight. When he realized fighting was useless, he became still.

"It's just me, you idiot," Annika said into his ear.

Renton grumbled loudly into the hand.

"Sorry, I just didn't want to surprise you and then have you yelling and alerting these wonderful people here where we are," she continued, letting him go.

"You couldn't have just _poked _me?" Renton whispered angrily.

"Oh, come on," she replied, "you would have yelled.."

"No I wouldn't-" Renton started. But then he stopped. This would get them nowhere.

"Look," he said quietly. "Have you figured out who these guys are?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's just like I said. Kebrenac's Lightning Squad. They use these guys to soften up a place before sending in the whole army. They can go in, do major damage, and get out before anyone even knows they're there. Tom says there's a former SOF member training them, although I don't know if that's true or not."

"What are they doing here?" Renton asked.

"Nothing good," Annika murmured. "This has got to be their advance base, just like I was telling you about."

Renton was quiet for a moment. He knew what was coming next. Ms. Annika, just like she had told him ten minutes ago, was going to try and destroy it. But did she think about Renton's opinion in this situation?

Of course, he didn't know his own opinion, really. On one hand, he didn't want to do this. He didn't want to take the time, or the risk, when he felt his biggest priority should be Eureka.

But was it? These people were obviously gearing for war. If he had the chance, shouldn't he try and prevent that war from happening? After all, hadn't Renton made a promise to do everything he could to stop a war? What would Eureka want him to do?

_The right thing._

But at the same time, how could he help? He didn't want to kill anybody. He had no problem with defending himself or Eureka, or anyone else that he loved. But these people hadn't ever really done anything to him, had they?

But if he didn't do something now, then they _could _do something to the people he loved.

Renton's head hurt.

Annika interrupted his thoughts.

"Well?" she asked. "Do you want to do this with me? I'm not going to force you, you know. It's up to you. I mean, I've heard both you and Eureka were pacifists, or something like that. So, if you don't want to, you don't have to. But I'm going to do something."

"You'd follow through with it on your own?" Renton asked.

She shrugged. "Yeah, why not? It's not like I've got anything to lose."

Without another word, she crawled off through the bushes. This time, Renton could trace her shadow as it weaved slowly closer to the tents.

Renton did have something to lose. He had plenty of things to lose. Which was why he followed Annika through the underbrush.

When he joined her, they both hid in the shadow of one of the smaller tents. The sentries couldn't see them from here; Annika didn't say anything when Renton crawled over to her, just smiled and shook his hand.

He could see her clearly outlined against the light reflecting off the side of another tent. She pointed to herself, and then motioned towards the giant tarp-covered KLF. Renton understood: she would try and commandeer one of the machines.

Then she pointed to him, motioned towards the machinery on the far side of the camp, and pantomimed talking.

So was that what that equipment was? Communications?

Having done that, Annika once again slunk off around the tents, leaving Renton wondering how exactly he was going to get to their communications center. It wasn't heavily guarded, but there was a sentry right next to it, and Renton knew one was all it took.

He took a deep, silent breath.

_Welcome back, Renton Thurston. Life-threatening situations have been waiting for you!_

He crawled back into the trees ringing the outside of the camp. He had an idea of what he wanted to do, he just hoped that it would work.

Slowly but surely, he moved to where he could see the sentry, but was sure that the man in camo couldn't see him.

Renton picked up a small stone he thought would make enough noise when it hit, but none when it was thrown.

He pitched the rock to the sentries' right; the thing landed – loudly – in the bushes, causing the sentry to drop down to a crouch.

"Who's there?" the man asked.

When he didn't hear an answer, the sentry walked forward, still in his crouch, to where he had heard the sound.

Renton crawled silently around the man, although he knew the furious beating of his heart would probably give him away. As he did, he couldn't help but notice that his enemy had a very large gun in his hands. Something Holland had told him it was an assault rifle.

The man used this gun to poke through the bushes, trying to find the source of that noise. Renton thought he would turn around any minute, and spot the intruder almost directly behind him.

Suddenly, there was shouting at the other end of the camp. Renton almost jumped out of his skin. He almost turned to look what was going on, but then saw that his sentry friend had already done the same.

The other man immediately saw Renton, and let out a yell of surprise. He raised his gun...

Without thinking, Renton kicked the gun aside, and rushed his larger, heavily built opponent. He tackled the man to the ground, at least. He was pretty sure the gun was crushed under the both of them.

With a grunt, the man threw Renton off and against a tree. Renton didn't feel any pain, but found he couldn't walk properly on his left ankle.

"Intruder!" the other man yelled out, but found it hard to compete with the dozen people already yelling the same thing on the other side of the camp. He scrambled for his gun, but for some reason couldn't yank it out of the undergrowth. His back was temporarily turned away from the small intruder. .

Renton saw this chance, and jumped his opponent again, with a yell, pulling at his head. He felt his blood pound in his ears, and his body shake from the adrenaline pumping through it.

He brought the other man to the ground again, but his opponent let go of the gun and pulled Renton off of him by the hair. Renton yelled out in pain. The sentry let go of his hair, but grabbed his throat, and held him against the ground as he tried to pull the gun free. Renton saw him finally dislodge the gun with hand, and start to bring it around to bear on him.

In his flailing, Renton's hand brushed against a large rock. He grabbed it with both hands, and smashed it against the iron grip around his neck. He felt something break.

The man cried out, clutching his hand, and letting go of the gun. He sucked in air through his teeth, then stood up and kicked at Renton.

Renton rolled out of the way, and pushed himself onto his feet. He lunged for the gun, and the man kicked at him again. Renton dodged it, and gripped the assault rifle's strap, pulling it towards him.

With a yell, the other man kicked Renton in the head. Renton felt something snap, and felt blood running down his face. Renton cried out, but when he fell back, he had the gun. He pointed it at the sentry..

"Don't... move..." he panted, using one hand to wipe away the blood. He was pretty sure it was his nose that was broken.

"Bastard," the man spat, but made no other move.

"Come with me," Renton said, and slowly backed towards the campsite. He only then became aware of the sound of more gunshots from the rest of the camp.

He took his prisoner over to the communications equipment at gunpoint, and, spotting some rope, quickly tied him up. He could see a camouflage colored KLF, which he hoped was being piloted by Annika, firing down at little men. The defenders were fighting back valiantly, and although Annika wouldn't let them near their KLFs, they managed to grab a hold of some hand-held artillery, and were managing to keep their enemy at a distance. Several tents were on fire, their smoke and spectacle adding to the general pandemonium of the scene.

"Mmph, mmbr _brjgr _jrdmbr," Renton's captive muttered murderously into the gag he now had over his mouth.

Renton didn't pay any attention. He just focused on the task that had been assigned to him, glancing over occasionally to check if Annika was doing alright.

In front of him was a large metal box on a table. There were a number of buttons and switches, and some readouts, as well as a display for direct face-to-face communication. There was also a headset already plugged in.

Renton realized he didn't know how to use this stuff.. He knew how to contact the other Gekkostate LFOs, hail other KLFs, and how to contact ships like the Gekko.

But how was he supposed to go about contacting a military base?

There was a large explosion. Renton spun around just in time to see one of the arms from the hijacked KLF, on fire, spin out of it's socket and fall towards the ground.

Renton turned back to the box, and flipped the on switch. It hummed to life, it's screens and dials glowing a dull red.

He spun the biggest dial. That one was for frequency. His grandfather had showed him lots of systems like these. The military wasn't back on fancy communication. Radio did fine.

There were lots of other knobs and switches. Renton quickly found the ones he wanted, and turned them to the correct positions. There was a setting for wavelength. He used the one he knew he needed, or at least, hoped was the one he needed.

He grabbed the headset and shoved it on his ears, just as another explosion echoed behind him. He looked... but it was alright. They had just blown up a KLF behind the one Annika was using.

Renton turned back to his job. He slowly spun large dial, trying to find the right frequency. At each frequency.

"Hello? Warsaw-Oberforth base, are you there? Hello?" he repeated at every turn of the dial.

"This is a restricted frequency," a gruff voice finally called back. "Identify yourself."

"Is this Warsaw-Oberforth base?" Renton asked.

"That is not any of your concern. Identify yourself."

Renton sighed.

"My companion and I are holding off a Kerbrenac attack in the middle of the forest south of Warsaw," he said.

"Who is this?"

"Renton...." Renton started to say, but then stopped; he didn't think the soldier would take him any more seriously if he said he he was, "uh... Beams, and Annika Schwartz. We were... patrolling, and we came across a Keberenac forward base. They were planning a surprise attack on Warsaw Tower."

There was a pause.

"I have a record for an Annika Schwartz gone missing. But no record for a Renton Beams in military service. How do I know you aren't a Brosendell spy?"

"Why would I be informing my enemy of an invasion?" Renton yelled.

A second pause.

"Then put Sergeant Schwartz on the line."

"We're holding off the enemy! Don't you get that?"

Another pause.

"I... have been informed that Reconnaissance is able to confirm your... intelligence..." the voice grudgingly stated.

Renton looked over at Annika. It looked like her KLF had retreated into the trees, and was firing sporadic shots from there. She still had her enemies full attention. Renton saw more than several bodies. He tried not to feel sick.

"Please be advised, we are sending a team of KLFs and a battleship to your position."

To be honest, Renton really wanted to get in one of the KLFs, and fight back. Not kill, but fight. No, that wasn't even right. What he really wanted, was to be back in Nirvash with Eureka at his side.

The tent fires had caught some of the surrounding forest. The smoke was starting to drift over to where Renton stood, and he could feel the heat of the out-of-control blaze on his face.

He watched, dismayed, as the enemy soldiers slowly edged around the stolen KLF. One or two ran for other KLFs nearby. A group of several others dashed – Renton's heart sank – for the battleship.

He didn't know why he did it, but he just couldn't stand by any longer. He tore off the headset, and dashed towards the KLFs he guessed were still working.

He ran as hard and fast as he could, rifle in hand. Through the flames, past the ring of enemy combatants still preoccupied with the KLF in the trees. He could feel them notice him: someone took a few shots at him.

Something hit his arm. It didn't really hurt. He kept running.

He made it to one of the exposed KLFs. Somebody was trying to get inside. He dashed up to the hatch, and stared the muzzle of the rifle in his hand into the cockpit. The man quickly climbed out. Renton barely had enough time to register that it wasn't even a man, it was another woman pilot, before he clambered into the cockpit and closed the hatch.

Only then did he start thinking again. He realized his arm hurt – a lot. He took a fortifying breath, but otherwise tried to ignore the injury. He had never gotten shot before. It was a bit of a novel experience. Hurt like hell, though.

Reneton looked around. The cockpit was dimly lit with soft reds, the brighter colors of the controls and display equally vying for his attention.

He stopped. These controls were similar to Nirvash's, yes. But not exactly the same. There were control's places switched around, even some buttons Renton did not recognize at all.

Shaking his head, He decided to start with the basics. Starting the KLF. Fortunately, the enemy pilot had already had a Compac Drive in the slot when Renton stole it.

_Speaking of which....._

The rattle of bullets off the KLFs armor reminded Renton that he didn't have much time. He gripped the controls, and the displays sprang to life.

He tried to move the KLF into a sitting position. Somehow, it worked, as Renton could feel the cockpit swinging up. The movements though, were new to him. Jerkier, somehow, then Nirvash's had been.

Next, he stood up, and drew his weapon. He started to look around for his enemies, but then realized he couldn't see through the cockpit. And he didn't see an option to turn it to clear mode.

_So that's what those bubble helmets are for._

Panicking, Renton looked around for another option. He saw one of the displays looked out onto whatever what was directly in front of him. It showed a cluster of men firing at him, in front of a tent to his left.

Renton turned, and fired. He aimed deliberately over their heads, setting the tent behind them ablaze.

His enemies scattered. He checked another display to see if there was anyone else shooting at him, but didn't see any threats.

Until the first round hit him from behind.

Renton was pitched forward in his seat, smashing against the front of the cockpit. His arm screamed out in protest, not to mention his nose. When he pulled away, he could see blood smeared across the screen.

His KLF was sprawled across the ground. Renton flipped it over, and pushed himself up right before the next round hit where he had been laying.

He turned around, and saw his attackers. A pair of KLFs had gotten up, and were shooting furiously at him.

Renton started pacing a circle around them, trying to outmaneuver their fire, while firing away himself. They hit him several times. Warning lights flashed.

He felt as if he had plunged into a pool of mud. The controls were just so much less responsive than the Nirvash, he had to feel a bit sorry for KLF pilots. They really didn't know how slowly they moved.

He lumbered slowly towards his enemies. He got lucky, and hit the head of one of them, as well as under it's arm. It was smoking, and stood still. Renton counted it out of action.

The other one, however, having spotted it's partner's inability, had moved behind the other KLF, and was firing from it's makeshift cover. It hit Renton's foot, and his sensors informed him he could only move at 30% normal efficiency.

They fired away at each other, both sometimes hitting, sometimes not. The trees around them were now fully ablaze, the light flickering off the armor of their machines. Renton's KLF knelt down involuntarily; his enemy had hit a vital piece of circuitry. Renton cursed. He kept firing anyway.

_Well, Eureka, I didn't last very long as a KLF pilot.. I think we had an unfair advantage against them in the Nirvash. What do you think?_

He was almost out of bullets. The enemy KLF had abandoned it's pockmarked cover, and was trying to walk around to Renton's blind spot. It was operating with only one arm, and was limping as well. But still, Renton's legs wouldn't work at all. He had to give the other pilot the advantage.

Then, a shot from beyond Renton's limited artificial sight. The enemy KLF sprawled, defeated, and something in it exploded.

Renton tried to turn to see who had saved him, but couldn't.

One of his displays flickered to life. A bubble-helmeted head appeared in another KLF cockpit.

"You're not that bad, Thurston," Annika said.

Renton tried to smile, but it hurt.

"Why don't you have the helmet on?" she asked.

"How would I have gotten one?" Renton asked, curious. Even to him, his voice sounded odd. Weaker.

He could tell, if the helmet was off, she would have given him a surprised look.

"You mean you didn't know?" she asked. "The helmets and other equipment are always kept beneath the seat."

"Beneath the-" Renton started. He checked, and found a large compartment underneath his chair. He popped the latch open. There was a helmet inside.

"You're right," he said, looking back at Annika.

"You mean..." she said slowly, "you did all that without a helmet?"

Renton tried to shrug, but that hurt too. His arm was really screaming now, and he half-cradled it with his other hand.

Annika started to say something, but then stopped, and her helmet turned to what Renton guessed was another display next to the one showing him.

"Hang on a second," she said. "We've got enemy battleship at three o'clock."

He saw her flip several switches, and on the outside, he saw her KLF turn to some unseen menace beyond his view.

"But I can't turn..." Renton tried to say, but the communication was cut short. His display went dark, only the outward view of the fire and the ruined KLFs in view as Annika's machine backed out of his sight.

He saw her fire a couple of shots towards whatever was beyond the left side of his screen. At least, he thought it was her. He could really only see the shots themselves as they sped towards their target.

"This. Really. Sucks," he said to himself.

He could hear explosions, outside of his semi-dark cockpit, but couldn't see anything. He punched the screen in front of him in frustration. He really hated not being able to do anything.

Suddenly, their were more shots. But not of the small kind from Annika's KLF. From above. Giant arcs of lights slammed down around him, knocking his KLF onto it's back. The shooting from Annika's KLF stopped, too.

Now that he was lying on his back, Renton's outside view showed him the night sky, trails of smoke from the surrounding fire spiraling into the air.

He could make out the shape of a battleship in the sky, and saw the glowing trails of several boards that indicated KLFs. They were flying by overhead, the battleship firing shots into the camp, seemingly at random. By the glow of the fire, he could just barely make out the red color on the belly of the battleship.

_Warsaw!  
_

It was the force they had said they were going to send! Renton had completely forgotten about them; in the heat of things, he had forgotten pretty much everything. For the first time in his life, he felt relief at the sign of the military.

However, that feeling did not last long, as the battleship continued firing down dangerously close to where he lay.

Then, Renton realized what color his KLF was.

"Dammit."

He pushed open the hatch and leaped out and down the KLF, leaving behind the gun he had liberated from the sentry. He ran away from it as fast as he could, and then threw himself to the ground, covering his head with his good arm.

The explosion lifted him off the ground and shook him like a rag-doll. Sprawled and aching, he looked back at the ruined remains of his KLF, still sputtering flame.

Renton looked around him. The entire forest in sight was on fire. Luckily, he lay on what appeared to be a dirt runway for the battleship, and only the smoke proved dangerous. He coughed up black.

The enemy battleship was a smoldering mess of metal, the rest of the camp – tents and all – was also up in flames, large craters were the bigger tents once stood. Annika...

"Renton!" she yelled, running towards him. Her copper hair followed behind her, and her face bore a new gash across the left cheek, but she still had on a pleased grin.

She came over and sat down beside him, looking out at the slowly burning world around them. She coughed a couple times then turned to him.

"Here," she said, pulling a small box out of her pocket. "Do you think we should tell 'em to come get us yet?"

"Is that a radio?" Renton asked.

"Yep," she said.

"Where'd you get it?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Under the seat."

Renton looked down.

"Oh."

She turned on the small box, then raised a small metal pole from it's tip. Renton knew that helped boost the signal. She pressed a button on it, then raised it to her mouth.

"Hello, this is Alley Cat, calling Fireman? Over."

She waited, then Renton heard someone over the static. He couldn't make out what was said.

"Yep, this is Sergeant Schwartz, with civilian. Over."

She put the radio back in her pocket, then turned to Renton.

"Well, Renton, they'll pick us up as soon as they get permission from base. And hopefully, then we can turn our full attention to finding Eureka Thurston."

Renton looked at her.

"Thanks, Ms. Annika. For everything-"

"Just call me Annika," she said.

"Annika," Renton corrected. "I can't tell you how grateful I am...how grateful we both are."

She just smiled.

"Trust me," she said. "The pleasure's mine."

Renton finally figured out what was different about her; what was new when she looked at him.

It was respect.

..............................................................................

So, I had a question. Would all you boys and girls out there prefer a story that's short and ends with a bang? Or do you prefer one that's more drawn out, but ends not-so-flashily? Maybe a combination of the two? I guess I'm asking, what are your preferences about the structure of a story?


	6. Like a Rolling Stone

Eureka didn't know where she was. Every tree seemed to be the same mix of gray and green. Every stream seemed to have the same stones along its edge. Every hill seemed to show her lack of progress towards her goal.

She didn't know where Renton was. She was distraught. Through every bend over the past year, and their adventures before that, he had been at her side; he had been there, a constant comfort when she felt she was all alone – when the weight of the world was pressing down on her heart, he always lifted her up.

But now, it had been two days, and she didn't even know where she was. The day before, she had lost track of where Warsaw Tower was. She wandered aimlessly among the bramble and twisted branches. Some of the trees were just starting to drop their leaves. The nights were getting colder.

Only a month before, during cold nights - which were very rare - she and Renton would have huddled under his jacket, and their body heat would have kept each other warm. Actually, her wings – for some reason - normally kept the temperature _very_ comfortable.

But these last few nights, she would keep as close as she could to rivers and streams, so that at night she could sleep on the sand, which was soft and would heat up well enough when she lay on it. She would hug her legs as close as she could to her chest and try to fall asleep. It normally didn't work very well, even if her wings still gave her some semblance of comfort. She had seen more than one sunrise through fatigued eyes these last few nights.

It was night now. She had decided that she would walk at night and sleep during the day, when it was warm. She didn't know how well it would work, but she would at least give it a try.

At least her feet were fine. A year of treading all over the world, and her feet were veterans. For some reason, they never visibly developed callouses, but Renton told her she walked as if she had callouses an inch thick. To her, though, the ground just didn't bother her. Was there anything unusual about that?

Eureka stumbled almost blindly through the forest. Renton had told her that her night vision was better then his, but she didn't think so. She could barely see the ground, and all it's little contours and pitfalls. The ring she and Renton had made was dimmer tonight – she vaguely wondered why, but in the end, it didn't really matter.

_Nothing matters anymore unless I can get back to Renton or the Gekko. _

Her stomach made a complaining noise.

_Except maybe food._

She hadn't really had to think about food for a while now. She and Renton had always managed to find something when they were hungry – a fruit tree, some berries. Sometimes Renton would even catch them a fish (although those were not Eureka's favorite food, to be honest).

But now that she was on the surface, she was reminded how valuable food really was. She remembered Holland even taking them halfway across the planet just to scrounge up enough money for groceries.

_Was that before I met Renton?_

It had to be. After that, Renton had been in charge of the store, and he had parceled out the food much more efficiently. Of course, they still had had money problems, but no food shortages as extreme as they had been.

Right now though, she was _really_ hungry. She had seen nothing the last few days: no animals, no fruit. Nothing.

On Earth, all over the place, there had been creatures she had never even imagined existed, yet somehow, already knew they did. She and Renton had a couple guesses as to that, but they really knew nothing for certain.

_We... no, _I _don't even know everything about me. I'm sure there are lots of things we'll never know. _

It was odd, really. Doing things, knowing things, and not knowing how she knew them. Take the other night for instance, when she woke up the KLF. She hadn't known it would work like that. It just did. She could even guess that something like that might never work again.

But, nowadays, she supposed she had gotten at least a little used to it. Everything... that made her different. She knew she had Renton to thank for that. He didn't care about those things. He just treated her like she was a fellow human being.

No, that wasn't true. He didn't treat her like a human being. He didn't treat her like a Coralian, either. To him, she was just...

_Eureka. _

She reached up and pressed a hand close to her heart. There was no barrier between them, no recognition of the fact that they were two separate species. They were made for each other, and that was that.

But now she didn't know if she would ever see him again.

Their moon had been covered up tonight by clouds. Eureka thought that it might rain sometime in the next few days.

She paused, leaning against a grand pine tree. She looked up through the branches of her shelter, trying to divine the stars.

"Renton?"

There was no answer. Perhaps there would never be one.

..........................................

She walked on for another length of time, the stars and ring slowly wheeling by overhead. She had noticed that, over the course of the day, the ring slowly meandered from one part of the sky to the other, and then back again. Really, more than anything, it was like a giant river in the sky, its comforting glow outshining all the stars combined. Looking at it, Eureka couldn't help but give up a sad smile.

She tread over a small hill, overgrown in lichen and mushrooms. She paused at the head of the hill, surrounded by a crowd of pines. There were so many hills here, and really, they were all the same. Every time she climbed one, she looked to see if she could recapture the sight of Warsaw Tower. But, so far, she hadn't had any luck. It was like the tower had just left its post. Now, she just tried to go the same direction she thought it was in. She was pretty sure it was north.

But, even though she couldn't see the tower, she stopped. Looking around the trunks of the surrounding trees, she saw something unusual.

Off in the distance, like a lamp in the night, glowed a violently blazing fire. The smoke, lit a soft red by the light below it, spiraled off towards the sky. She could smell the smoke from here, and saw the glittering silhouettes of a flock of skyfish trying to escape from it.

In fact, she could even spot small black shapes she knew to be KLFs circling around the blaze, the tiny streamers of light that trailed behind them nearly invisible next to the monstrous fire.

_I wonder what caused that fire?_

She shivered. The fire... reminded her of things. Scenes, events. Things she had done. Things she wanted to forget.

Her whole life to her now, she realized, really started when she had adopted Maurice, Maeter and Linck. Before that, she _knew_ she hadn't been living a life. She had just been walking around, a pale shell encasing a blank heart.

No, maybe that wasn't true. Maybe the seeds of her true life had been placed sooner. Really, Adroc had been the one who had given her the ability to live out her life with people. He had been the one who had always given her the words to say, the foundation from which her emotions had evolved. Not only that, but he had been Renton's father.

And she couldn't help think that he had been, from what Renton described, almost like a father to her, too.

The black shapes of battleships and KLFs were now slowly drifting away to the right. Was that in the direction of Warsaw?

Eureka sniffed. The smoke was drifting toward her more now. Why was that?

Something told her the wind was shifting toward her direction.

The fire began to creep closer, devouring all in it's path. Now Eureka could hear it: a wave of sound that grew louder with each moment. She could hear the crack of sap from hundreds of trees, the crash as they fell, and above all, the great sucking, wooshing sound of the fire sweeping through the forest.

"Oh no," she coughed, paralyzed with fear. The fire was still getting closer – it was moving unbelievably fast. She was starting to feel the heat of it on her face. The smoke was getting unbearable, blocking out the stars.

Finally convincing her legs to work, Eureka turned and pelted down the hill, away from the fire, as fast as her legs would carry her.

She bounded through the forest, jumping over logs and trying not to fall. The ground moved under her almost of it's own accord. She tripped – pushed herself up, the front of her clothes now covered in mud.

_I'm going to have to get Renton a new jacket. _

It was an absurd thought at that moment, but it seemed her brain couldn't completely acknowledge the fact that she might die in the fire that was getting closer all the time.

Now she could hear birds in the forest, screaming to each other, trying to escape from the blaze. She saw them flit ahead of her, their wings capable of so much more than hers.

And she could see the light of the fire now, its reflection glowing off the trunks of the trees around her. She tried to run faster. Her heart was beating through her chest, her every breath filled with smoke.

She tripped again, but found she could not get up. She subsided into a fit of coughing and hacking, and she felt her wings droop down almost to the forest floor. She knew she was about to faint.

_"I swore in my heart, Eureka! I swore, if we ever met again, I would protect you!" _

Eureka coughed again. What was that? A half memory, all fog except for the voice that sounded like Renton. But it couldn't have been. She didn't remember him ever saying that.

She shook her head. It was probably just the heat.

The Heat. She felt it on her whole body now, as if she were already on fire. Looking back, she could stare the beast in the eyes. It grinned at her, deathly promise in it's toothy smile.

Panic. She felt panic.

Eureka scrambled up, tears in her eyes, drying on her cheeks from the heat. She futilely tried to stumble on, only walking slowly now. She couldn't stop coughing. She felt like she was standing in one of Hap's pots in the oven.

Hap. She would have liked to see him again.

_I want to see everyone. I don't want to die. _

She fell to the ground again. The dirt felt so soft. So comfortable. Maybe she could just lay here, and pull the ground over her like a blanket to protect her from the flames.

It was all around her now. All she could see was fire. It seemed like all she had ever known was the cruel heat of the flames, and the sound of wood burning away.

There were little bugs and worms, trying to crawl out of the dirt, trying to get away from the heat. Lots and lots of earthworms crawled by her knee. On the other side of her, there was one that was bigger than all the rest, it's length almost as long as her forearm.

No, it wasn't a worm.

_A rope?_

Hacking away, Eureka dragged herself over to the small, worn rope. It had a small symbol hanging off the end of it like a key-chain, but Eureka couldn't see what it was.

She reached out to it, and grasped it with both hands. With the last ounce of her strength, she yanked it up as hard as she could.

With a groan, audible even over the roar of the fire, a large section of the ground came lose, and swung open.

A trapdoor.

Not questioning it, just accepting that it was there in her time of need, Eureka lowered herself feet first into the unfathomable hole. However, her arms couldn't hold her up, and she fell.

But instead of landing softly a few meters down, like she had thought she would, she kept falling.

And falling.

Her body hit against the side of the... tunnel, and started spinning in the air. She could feel her last grips on consciousness slipping away. It was bigger down here than she thought it would be.

She slammed into the ground, too far gone now to even feel the pain, and simply lay at the bottom of the tunnel in a crumpled heap. Her eyes, lost in the darkness, slowly closed. She could feel her mind drifting away, as if on a wave of Trapar.

_Someone.... please help me...._

_Renton...._

...........................................................

Eureka swam around in the dark. She felt warm. Comfortable. She didn't want to wake up. She felt like she was lying on her bed back on the Gekko, the kids snuggled in with her. Maybe there was a thunderstorm, and they had been scared. Maybe they had had to make an emergency landing. And now, after the rain, the pale sun was shining warmly through the window. It would make their quarters a bit too warm soon, and Hilda's knock on the door would rouse them all for breakfast.

They would get up, sleepily, smiles on the children's faces. Eureka wouldn't smile. She didn't know why she wouldn't. Did she not know how?

But she would have kind words. The children would have been teaching her, teaching her how to use the right words properly.

They would get dressed quickly, and maybe Linck would need help with his zipper. They would leave the room, and walk down the long, bright halls of the ship, to the tune of sizzling bacon, and the wafting smell of freshly baked breakfast.

Perhaps they would be having pancakes. Maybe eggs. It would be delicious, no matter what it was. But Eureka wouldn't really taste it. She would just eat. Who was this pale, cold girl, who only looked at the carefully prepared food simply as a way to refuel? Why wouldn't she smile?

They would all be sitting around the table, although some might be sitting in the chairs farther back. Maybe Matthieu and Moondoggie would be farther away, simply on the floor: their breakfast sitting, forgotten, as they would pour over the newest record, or music.

Hap would be standing with Holland over near the window, both of them looking out over the flight conditions for the day, steaming coffee in hand. Eureka wouldn't be able to hear what they said, but trusted them to make the right decisions.

Perhaps Hilda, Talho, and Gidget would be at the table, commenting on the food and a new piece of jewelry Hilda might have gotten. Talho might have looked over at her occasionally, eying the pale girl who was watching everything and nothing. She might frown a bit, her discomfort evident.

Eureka would sit and lift the fork to her mouth.

Woz and Jobs might not be in the room today. Woz would have got them both breakfast, and the pair would have been down in the engine room, perhaps having a conference about a new piece of research from a prestigious laboratory.

Mischa and Ken-Goh would be sitting at the table, both of them quietly eating. They wouldn't talk much, except maybe for Mischa to put in her say about Hilda's jewelry at some point. Ken-Goh might comment on Hap and Holland's conversation, maybe not. Or maybe he would criticize Matthieu and Moondoggie's choice of music.

Stoner would be sitting over by himself, at the bottom of the wall that separated the kitchen from the dining room. His plate would be sitting at his side, already eaten. He would see Eureka looking at him, smile, and wink. He would raise the camera to his face, and snap a quick picture.

Eureka would raise the fork to her mouth again, insert it, make sure none of the food got out, pull out the fork, chew, and then swallow. She would lower the fork back to her food.

The children would be playing a game, paying more attention to their fun then their food. Eureka might remind them to eat. They might try and get her attention over something they thought was fun. Maybe not. She would respond, the warm response taken from a list.

She would continue eating, alone.

Eureka shivered. She was no longer warm. She was beginning to realize something... realize something important. It was at the edge of her mind, flitting just out of reach.

But now she was cold. She felt uncomfortable, out of place. Her mind drifted back to another time, another place.

She would be in the battleship's hanger. Everything would be cold – the SOF commander would have told them they were going someplace in the far north. Holland would have told her that it was very cold in the far north. Maybe she would have been able to understand what he meant.

But now she would believe him. Now, she would huddle up inside Nirvash's cockpit. Maybe she would have thought to bring heavier clothes down with her, but probably not. Nirvash's metal skin would have felt ice-cold to her touch. She would have scrambled up her friend as fast as she could, slipping into the cockpit and sealing it shut.

She would have kept her knees close to her chest, her hands under her arms. She would have learned that much kept her warmer. She had learned that during a winter back at Tresor.

Nirvash's cockpit would have warmed up a bit, eventually, but Eureka would still be able to see her breath.

The cockpit in which she sat would look much more lived in then her quarters. For good reason, too. Maybe she would talk to Nirvash while she tried to get warm, telling him new words she had learned, or asking him about something she was confused over. Perhaps she would just sit in the cold, the companionable silence between her and her friend would have been enough for her. But she wouldn't smile. She would just feel a... need, for something more than what she was. For a companion: a friend.

The rest of the hanger would be empty, everyone else's machines sitting silently, lifelessly. Eureka might visit the others sometimes. Talk to them, reassure them when they were scared. The other pilots wouldn't understand her. They would glance at her out of the corner of their eyes, let her sit on her own in the mess hall.

Except Holland. He would come now, while she was sitting cold in Nirvash. He would walk up the side of the frozen metal, slick with perspiration. She would look up at him, face blank.

He would knock on the window, smiling. He would hold up a large woolen blanket. Maybe he got it from her room. Maybe not, they all looked the same. They were standard issue. Maybe he had gotten it from the provisions officer. They _were _all the same.

She would stare at him for another moment. Maybe, she was struggling to understand why he wanted to give her the blanket. Perhaps she was just cold.

She would open the cockpit, its hinges giving off an awful sound. They were so cold. Ice was forming on the exterior.

Holland would lean into her cockpit. He would smile, handing her the blanket. When she simply looked at it in her lap, he would shake his head. Maybe he would say something nice, or comforting, or educational.

Then he would take the blanket, and unwrap it. He would drape it over her, and she would let out a little gasp. It felt so much better. Perhaps she hadn't known that the blanket could leave her room.

He would tuck her in, making sure she was wrapped good and tight. She would just look down at his hands pushing the blanket in around her. Her face would be blank, cold as the chilled air in the hangar.

Perhaps he would shiver. He wasn't really dressed for the cold down here, either. Maybe he would momentarily think of joining her in the cockpit, but would quickly dismiss the thought. He wouldn't want to give her the wrong idea.

She might speak for the first time. Maybe she would say thank-you. Holland would look at her then, his face showing his emotions. Perhaps just hearing her talk was all he wanted.

Then he would smile again, and shrug off the thanks with a quick comment. Then, with a last wink, he would close the hatch. Eureka would silently watch him through the cockpit, as he would hurriedly hustle back up the stairs and into warmer climate controls.

Maybe somebody like Charles would ridicule him for going down to see the "weird girl" again. She would never know. Perhaps, now that she was warmer, she would fall asleep, comfortable in the presence of Nirvash. Someone like her.

But she wouldn't forget Holland. No, even though she was still struggling to put names to all the faces she saw, she would always be able to remember his.

Eureka fidgeted. That something important was nagging at the back of her mind, like a small bug buzzing near her head. There was something she needed to do. Or.... maybe something that had happened? She felt... pain.

She would have recoiled at the pain, and looked down at her wound. Maybe they would have shot her with a small-arms weapon. Maybe even a rifle. The terrorists almost never had any serious weapons.

Eureka would have been wearing fiber-armor. The bullets would have glanced off her arm, but left a deep bruise. It would have hurt.

She would have raised her assault rifle, and dodged to the right as they shot at her again. Maybe she would have brought several of them down as she dodged. Maybe more.

Perhaps they would get her again, too.

As she got hit, a gasp would have escaped her. She had never experienced pain like this. The only time before that was....

She was lying on a cold table. It was very bright. There were things, things in white coats. She didn't look at them, not really. She just stared at the ceiling. The ceiling was white.

She felt pain. Her mouth opened, air went in. She tilted her head just enough to see what was happening. They were inserting something... long and thin... into her. Was that her body? She wiggled some of her fingers, surprised that she could move them with a thought.

Something red flowed from her into a sac. The things around her took that away, and then propped her up. She complied. There was no reason not to.

They held out something. She didn't know what it was. They pulled it over her, draping it around her bare body. They got her to stand up, to walk over to the corner of the room.

On the wall... was another one of the things, the creatures. It had blue hair, and was wearing the same thing they had made her put on.

She raised her hand. The thing in the wall raised the same hand.

Eureka realized the thing was her.

She was one of them.

And then, it was dark again. She felt... herself. There were lights. Shapes. Bodies moved around her. There were lots of them, all making noise. They tried to pull her from where she was. But she was comfortable.

She curled up more, but they were persistent. They carried her out and away. They put her into a room that moved, that petered along the dark. It was bright in the room. One of the things was in there with her. It felt her, poked her, prodded her. Each time it touched, she realized that that part of her existed.

Suddenly, all the memories boiled away.

It was white. She was standing on nothing, the white stretching away forever. She didn't know where the ground ended and the sky began.

Adroc was there. He smiled warmly at her, and gave her a thumbs-up.

Then she was in Nirvash again, but everything outside the cockpit was still white. They, she and Nirvash, walked on in the expanse for a length of time Eureka couldn't measure.

She realized Holland was in the cockpit adjacent to hers. Somehow, he reached through the cockpit, and put his hand on her head. He said something, but she couldn't make out what it was.

But then she discovered it wasn't Holland, or Adroc, or anyone. Renton was in the cockpit with her, and so was Maurice, and Maeter, and Linck. But she couldn't reach them. She couldn't talk to them. The space that connected the cockpits was closed. Realizing she was all alone, she pounded on the window of the cockpit, trying to reach them.

_Renton! _

Now she wasn't in the Nirvash. Her cockpit had detached. It was falling. She was falling, and a great darkness opened up in all the white.

The cockpit was open. She fell up and out of it, tumbling in the air. A blank book passed by her as she fell.

She was falling.... falling in the dark. And then... she landed.

Eureka's head shot up, and she awoke, panting. A cold sweat had broken out across her whole body.

She remembered everything.

Struggling, she grabbed on to the ladder propped up near her, and stood up. She looked around. She didn't know where she was.

She was in a cave. The tunnel she had fallen down must have been the entrance. It was more like a cavern though, as she could see that it went on for a very long way.

Regaining her strength, she walked forward into the enormous space. Where she walked was a small ring around the edge of the cavern, but in the middle, its floor sunk down perhaps a hundred meters.

It wasn't dark. In fact, it was kind of bright. The walls of the cave were split intermittently by glowing veins. Their soft green color, and the type of stone underneath those veins reminded Eureka strongly of the other tunnel she and Renton had been in only recently.

But that wasn't the main source of light in the cave. At the bottom of the cavern, throwing off brilliant rays of almost every color Eureka could think of, was an enormous patch of flowers. But they weren't like any flowers she had ever seen. The seemed to sway, even though there was no breeze.

Not even really knowing why, Eureka slowly walked around what she found was a small path that led, spiraling around the edge of the pit, slowly down to the flower patch. It was just... she felt drawn to it somehow.

When she reached the bottom, she knelt down on the edge of the small field. The ghostly light that came from the flowers almost reminded her of the light thrown off the top of the waves, back on Earth. It rippled, and flowed, just like here. She could feel some kind of... pulse, an energy, that gently vibrated through her wings.

She reached out a hand to touch one. For some reason, she felt compelled to. But at the last moment before her outstretched finger brushed a flower, its petals all closed up, she stopped. Now, something was telling her not to.

Eureka looked up. High, very high up at the top of the cavern, was a window that looked out onto the rock face above it. It was set among giant stalactites, and was visible only by the glinting reflection of the flower's light. She could make out shapes in the giant window, cut out of the rest. She seemed to remember it being called a 'stained-glass-window.' She couldn't make out what it depicted, though.

For a while, she just sat, and watched the flowers. They were almost hypnotizing, their gentle swaying back and forth so enticing in some way.

But then she remembered.

_Renton. _

She had to get back to him. She had to find him, let him know she was alright.

Brushing the dirt that the flowers grew in off of her knees, she got up, and walked hurriedly back around the ramp.

At the top, though, she stopped. Should she climb back up the ladder? She didn't know whether the fire was still going on.

But the other route, deeper into the cave, didn't look promising either. She had no idea how far it might go, or even if it reconnected with the surface at all.

Eureka shook her head.

No, that wasn't true. It had to lead up somewhere. Besides, if she just climbed back up the ladder, then she would just be where she was before. Lost, not knowing where to go. Now, at least, she would be able to follow one direction. The only direction.

She started walking toward the other end of the cave. Light wouldn't be a problem. The veins of the strange mineral in the walls glowed brightly enough. And besides, in a situation like this, she found her wings gave off a small luminescence as well.

The walls were warm, too. She pressed her hand against one. She could almost feel it pulsating, like a heartbeat. But it wasn't a scary thing. It actually gave off a familiar sort of feeling.

Eureka walked down to the end of the large cavern, and found a small entrance, like the one she had used to get down here. But this one didn't lead up. It kept leading on, the walls illuminating a straight passage that led as far as she could see before turning off in another direction.

She took this small tunnel, having flashbacks of all the stretches of tunnel that she and Renton had been through.

She half-smiled.

_I hope there aren't any stairs._

But then the smile faded a bit. This time though, she was alone. She wasn't scared of the tunnel, and she wasn't frightened about the dark. It was too bright in here anyway to worry about that. But she didn't like to be alone. She liked being with other people. Without them, she felt... empty.

Really though, the fact that she was alone served only to push her on. She had to get back to Renton. That was something she could believe in.

The tunnel was at least not as long as the ones between Earth and the true surface. After what felt like several hours walking, greeted by the same stone faces at every bend, Eureka came upon a door.

It was a small door, and simply made. It's wood was slightly red, and it looked very worn down. The handle was ornate, however, it's bulb the imitation of a closed flower like the ones Eureka had already seen. Not only that, but carved into the door in dim gold, was a symbol Eureka recognized as belonging to the Vodarac. However, unlike the ones she had seen elsewhere, this symbol had a large line, running straight down the middle of the seated figure.

Eureka wondered what it meant for a moment, but then reached out and turned the handle. It clicked, and the door swung outward. She stepped back, and when the door opened, was greeted with a stone staircase, spiraling around a circular base. There were torches placed at even intervals as the stairs continued upward, but none of them were lit. Instead, glowing stones had been placed in the torch-holders.

She climbed the stairs, not unaware of the irony. After a short climb (for which she was thankful) she came upon another door, only this one was different than the last. This one was painted white, and had nothing ornate or special about it whatsoever. It's handle was small and brass.

Cautiously, she pushed the door open. Her intrusion was met by silence. The quiet was of the comfortable kind, that of a quietness that was meant to be.

She stepped into what she found was a place of worship. There were chairs, and tables, pushed against the sides, and a large shrine at the front of the room. Quick inspection found this to be another Vodarac shrine. Was this a Vodarac temple?

The fairly big room was lit nicely by its large windows that stretched to the ceiling. They let in a steady stream of light filtered through the heavy green of the surrounding trees.

_Someone must have stopped the fire. _

She wondered where she was exactly. It was clear that she was outside of the fire-damaged area of the forest, but where was that? She needed to get out of here, and look around.

Eureka continued to the back of the room, and then out of a door on the right. Nothing seemed locked. In fact, she could even see signs that the occupants of this temple had left in a hurry. There was odd detritus and materials lying around all over the place.

With a last look back at the shrine, she exited the room, closing the door behind her. The resulting sound seemed a bit loud in the quiet that pervaded the temple, but she wasn't worried about it.

Looking around, she realized she was in a small foyer. The exit was right in front of her.

However, when she went to open it, she found that it was locked.

_Locked?_

But... how could it be locked? If the people who had been in here left in a hurry, then where did they...

Oh. That must have been where the cavern came in. But why had they had to leave?

More importantly, how was she going to get out?

Eureka looked around at the materials she had. Nothing seemed viable for breaking through the door.

But maybe... maybe that door was supposed to stay locked.

_How am I going to get out? _

The windows. She could break through the windows easily enough. She had experience at that.

She shivered. Not that she had ever _wanted_ experience at it.

Unsure whether she should really break out through one of the large glass windows or not, Eureka walked back into the temple proper.

Nodding, she inspected the windows. The best one to break would be the one on the right side, closest to the foyer. It was closest to the ground.

She peered out the window. The drop from the windows to the ground through most of them was a long _way_ down. The temple was built into the side of a hill, and there was a river that had carved out a large valley almost right next to the temple. It was like this shrine had been built for defense.

However, one of the windows, the one Eureka admitted she was intending to break, looked out onto the hill.

She got a chair.

"I'm sorry," she said to the shrine.

Using all the strength she had, she swung it at the large window. It shattered, shards scattering all over the ground outside.

Eureka clambered up onto the now void windowsill. The breeze touched her face, and she realized she relaxed for the first time in a while.

She jumped over the area where shards of broken glass lay, and started walking up the hill. She didn't even have any idea which direction she had been walking in all this time. But, maybe, she had gotten closer to Warsaw.

Birds chirped.

Breathing a bit heavier, Eureka reached the auburn hilltop.

Several seconds later, she had to remind herself to breathe.

Stretched out in front of her, was Warsaw.

Actually, the city, and the tower itself, were still far away. But they were much closer now. _Much_ closer. She thought she could make it in a days walk.

Around her stretched more hills. But there wasn't any forest on these hills, just grass slowly losing it's color in preparation for winter. There was a road down to her right. It probably led to Warsaw. She could follow it fairly easily.

She smiled. She was going to get back to those she loved. She just knew it.

The wind was stronger here. It played around with Eureka, almost blowing her over. She managed to steady herself, laughing a bit.

_I wonder...._

She raised her hand straight into the air, and closed her eyes, just like she had learned to do so long ago.

The Trapar... were agitated. Something was off. Not wrong exactly, but off. But, aside from that, the current was good. She wished Renton was here. Maybe with the longboard.

_But we'll be able to do that soon. _

She looked out at the monstrous shape of the tower in the near distance.

_I promise._

.........................................................

"Well, yeah, I know. But does he have to make such a big point about it?"

"Oh, come on. You're giving him a hard time. You know, you guys would get along fine if you tried."

Dominic shook his head.

"I don't know. I think Moondoggie's still holding misconceptions from when I was in the military."

Anemone gave him a pitying smile, and leaned into his shoulder. He wrapped his arm a bit tighter around her.

"You boys can be _so _stupid sometimes," she said.

Dominic shrugged. "I guess."

They passed under another one of the street lamps. Talho walked alone ahead of the group, the two other engineers behind her. Dominic could hear Woz and Jobs' conversation drifting back to them. They were _still_ hashing it out about the updates to the stealth system. He shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm telling you guys, it'll work if you just expand the resonance capacity," he called out to them.

They both looked back at him. Woz nodded, and looked to Jobs.

"That's what _I_ keep telling him," Woz said.

Jobs sighed, looking disgruntled.

"You can both _believe_ that," he said. "But there is _no way_ that it's possible. We don't even know if the mainframe will be _compatible_-"

"So, we're back at the beginning!" Woz said, exasperated. The conversation continued, but Anemone pulled Dominic back.

"No more technical talk tonight," she said, pouting. "You promised."

Dominic gave her an embarrassed smile.

"I guess I did. I'm sorry."

She shook her head.

"No, I am. What did I expect? You guys can never get your heads completely out of... wherever it is they are when you're working."

He put a hand behind his head, looking at the street lights overhead, and further on, the bright neon of the hotel's sign.

"Sometimes," he said, "I just can't wrap my mind around everything that's happened recently."

"Like what?" Anemone asked.

"Well, like me becoming a mechanic. I mean, tell me that that was something I'd be good at two years ago, and I'd have called you clinically insane!"

Anemone nodded, devilry in her eyes. She played with the bike goggles around his neck. He didn't know why he still wore them, even if they _did_ make good doubles for safety goggles in a pinch. One of Anemone's fingers on his chin brought him out of his brief lapse in thought.

"Yeah, I guess I know what you mean. I never thought I'd end up with a handsome guy like you."

She leaned in closer. Dominic rolled his eyes at her, but happily obliged, and they shared a quick kiss as they walked.

The hotel drew steadily closer. The moon was obscured tonight, leaving everything a bit darker than most nights. Although, if there was anything Dominic had learned, it was that nights weren't ever all that dark since a year ago. He looked up at the ring, hanging conspicuously among the dimmed stars.

_And we've all got the two of them to thank for it. _

Anemone saw where he was looking, and nodded.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about them recently, too. It's kind of weird. One year's already gone by, and we've never even really talked to them. And yet... we both share so much."

Dominic looked at her.

"I didn't really think you'd think about it _that_ way. I mean, we're really not _that_ alike..."

She laughed, poking him in the ribs. He tried to bat her hand away.

"Hey, stop!" he laughed. "That tickles!"

"Are you kidding? Haven't you _ever_ heard everyone comparing us to them? _Mischa _even says that the 'similarities are remarkable.' Come on, haven't you ever heard something like that?"

Dominic relented.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I have heard that. But still, we won't really know until we meet them. I mean, I met Renton, you know that, but that was a long time ago."

Anemone suddenly, as was her way, changed her mood to somber.

"I've fought them before – you know that, and they say that that's one of the best ways to get to know someone intimately-"

"Maybe we should have more fights, then," Dominic interjected.

"Oh, shut up," she teased. She tried to poke him again, but he dodged. Then, her mood changed to gloomy again.

"As I was _saying_..." she glared at him, "I've fought them quite a few times, even talked to them, and I can tell you, they really do share a lot in common with us. I think we'd make good friends. They're really the only ones who could understand us, don't you think? I mean...."

She looked up at him.

"You think that too, right?"

Seriously, Dominic nodded. He'd actually been thinking about it ever since they came onto the Gekko.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "And I think things will never really be right until they come back."

He paused.

"Do you know what I mean?"

Anemone nodded sadly.

"Yeah," she said. "It's like there's this big hole there, and it's never going to heal. It makes me sad sometimes, to think that we might have made that pain worse."

She looked up at him for a moment, and he knew what she was going to say next.

"Sometimes, I think we should leave. But they're our friends too now. We _couldn't _just leave them. That'd only make things even _worse_."

"Well, you know how I feel there," Dominic said. "But I agree with you about there being a hole. And I think you're right about them being the only ones who could really understand who we are. You know Renton was one of the reasons I tried the mechanic thing in the first place. I mean, normally, it wouldn't have been in my_ top ten_ choices of things to do! But when we got here, I just thought... 'I don't know, maybe I should try it out.' And I _know _you chose the store-keeping job because they did it last."

Anemone shrugged.

"Well, I found I was really good at organizing things. That's all."

Dominic shook his head, smiling. Anemone rested her head on his shoulder. He put his hand on her arm. He had found that her skin was so cold, all the time.

He figured now was as good a time as any. He reached into his jacket, pulling out a small black box. He didn't show it to her yet, though.

"You know, tomorrow's our anniversary," he said.

"Didn't we already have that last week?" Anemone mumbled, her head still on his shoulder.

"Tomorrow's the anniversary of our first date," Dominic said.

She chuckled.

"We went looking for those missing escape pods from Dewey's Ship. I wouldn't exactly call that a _date_."

"Well, I do," he said.

"Very well then," she said, eyes still closed. "You had better cook me breakfast."

"What if I gave you something better?"

"Like what?" she asked. "And it better not rhyme with 'a diamond king '. I told you the other month that I want to wait a little longer."

The box ducked back into his jacket.

"No, of course not!" he covered. "I mean, we did agree on that, right?"

"Good," she said, "I thought you might forget."

He had completely forgot.

"Forget?" Dominic asked incredulously. "How could I forget? You know I listen to you."

She opened her eyes, raised her head, and looked up at him.

"You better stop there, mister. I can tell you're going to dig your own grave here in a minute."

They fell into silence. The previous conversation resulted in them just walking side by side, holding hands. It was probably a punishment. Dominic felt like hitting himself. Repeatedly. Maybe with one of the giant steel tools they had down in the shop.

But Anemone's mind was clearly elsewhere.

"Do you think we'll _ever _see them again?"

Dominic's mind took a lot of dragging back to their earlier conversation.

"Who?"

She looked at him funny.

"Renton and Eureka, who do you think? You are _so_ weird sometimes."

His brain caught up.

"Oh," he said. Then, he thought about it.

"I don't know," he said. "I hope so."

"Yeah," Anemone said, like he had chosen the obviously right answer. "So do I."

They had reached the hotel. It's gaudy neon light shone down on them, casting garish shadows. Talho, Woz and Jobs were already inside.

"I certainly hope so," he said again, absentmindedly. He reached out for the door to enter the hotel.

............................................................

Renton woke up.

They had fallen asleep on the couch again. He knew it.

He looked around the hotel lobby.

_What time is it?_

Still sleepy, he struggled to find the clock. Spotting it, he groaned.

It was early. Very early. When were those adults going to stop having their party? He knew he would've woken up if they'd all come downstairs. He wanted to talk to the other Holland again. Ask him if there was any scientists who might have a clue on their problem. After all, back at Warsaw Base, Renton had known lots of scientists, friends of his parents, that would have had an idea.

He was coming around to the idea that this place... what the Commander had described as Neverland... was really just an alternate world. He had heard all about them, growing up. In fact, it was one of his parent's favorite topics.

Here, he supposed, everything was _like_ what he had known, but not exactly the same. It certainly explained everything he had seen.

Suddenly, he noticed Eureka's head wasn't asleep on his shoulder. He hopped up off of the couch, immediately suspecting everything and everyone.

But no. There she was, watching the lobby's television. She was staring at it intently, mouth moving with the news.

He went over to her.

"What are you doing awake?" he asked tenderly, sitting down in the chair next to hers.

She pointed at the T.V.

"Watching the news," she said knowingly.

"Really?" Renton asked skeptically. He briefly wondered if the news here was ever good, and light-hearted. "Anything interesting?"

"A fire," she said, eyes on the screen.

_So much for that._

Apparently, the news was dour even here. He looked at the screen, then leaned forward, watching it more intently.

If the maps he had been looking at recently were correct, then the fire on the news had only been a little bit south of here.

There were pictures of military battleships, and KLFs, hovering over the flames. It was weird to Renton, sometimes, what things were similar to his... world, and what things were different. Although, sometimes, here, they called KLFs LFOs. He didn't know why.

They said there were two survivors, military types, but they didn't say who, and they didn't say why they were there. Renton smelled a rat. Two people of military persuasion were never just wandering through the middle of a forest for no reason.

The report continued on, detailing how they managed to stop the flames before they spread too far, and that they were searching the area for any casualties, but none of it really mattered.

"It was close," Eureka said.

Renton nodded.

"Yeah," he muttered. "A bit _too_ close."

The door opened behind them. Renton turned to look.

_Uh-oh._

There was Talho, who he had known on the Gekko, and two others he didn't exactly know the names of. Woz, he thought was the name of the short one. Except, of course, these were just look-alikes of the people _he _knew.

He knew what would happen. They would notice him, think he was _their_ Renton, and then freak out when they found out he wasn't. He had picked up the pattern awfully fast.

This was the exact reason he hadn't wanted to go up to their little party.

"Renton?" Talho, Woz, and the other asked, at around the same time, looking at him like so many deer into headlights.

Sighing, Renton held up a hand before they could go on.

However, Eureka spoke up first. Renton was surprised. Normally, she just let _him _do the talking.

"No," she said apologetically, sitting backwards in her chair, looking at them over the back. "We're not. Sorry."

Renton thought the looks on their faces were a bit funny. But, he should probably interject.

"Look," he said, standing up, "it's probably best if you just go talk to your Holland about it. Eureka and I don't really feel like going through this whole thing again."

"Uh... a-alright, then," Talho stammered, edging towards the stairs. "I guess?"

"Pleased to meet you!" Eureka called after them as they stumbled up toward Mr. Stoner's room, casting searching looks back at them over their shoulders.

She got up, and sat down in the chair Renton had recently occupied.

"Come sit!" she said, patting the chair.

He shook his head, smiling.

"Eureka, that's way too small, I wouldn't even be able to-"

"Please?" the blue-haired girl asked.

The door opened again. Renton turned. Probably another-

"Sensei?" he asked, suddenly rooted to the spot.

There he was. Walking through the door, was his Teacher Dominic. He came in with a girl Renton did not know.

Amazed, he walked over to them. He realized tears had suddenly come to his eyes.

"Sensei Dominic?" he asked again, hoping beyond all hope.

"Uh... Renton?" his longtime teacher looked just as stunned as Renton felt. The other girl looked dumbstruck too. Eureka came over by his side.

But no. This wasn't his Teacher. He was younger, first of all. Much younger. Renton felt his heart sink down to his toes. He had just hoped....

He realized he was staring. Probably leaning in a bit too close, too. He wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I'm... sorry," he said, laughing at himself a little bit. How could he possibly have thought that this was his teacher? A little cynically, Renton wondered how he could have hoped for anything in this cruel mirror world. "I must have mistook you for someone else."

"Renton?" this Dominic repeated mindlessly.

"Sorry," he said, extending his hand. "I'm not the Renton you know. Nice to meet you, though. Your name is Dominic, right? You already know mine."

He gestured to Eureka, who reached out and happily shook Dominic's stunned hand as well.

"And this," he said, "is _my _Eureka."

"Pleased to meet you," she said, smiling. She tried to shake the other girl's hand as well. But this girl pulled her hand back.

"What's going on here?" she asked irritably. Renton was a bit taken aback at her temper. "Is this some kind of sick _joke_?"

Renton rolled his eyes.

"No, although if it is, than I'll bet it has a _really _stupid punchline."

He saw the looks on their faces.

_Alright, not ones for humor. _

"Just go talk to your Holland," he said resignedly, waving towards the stairs.

"I.. I don't understand," this Dominic said.

"Yeah, me neither," Renton said.

"Maybe we _had_ better go talk to everyone," the girl said, and pulled Dominic along around Renton and Eureka. Both of them gave the same sort of looks over their shoulders that Renton had noticed from the others.

"Renton?" Eureka asked.

"Yes, Eureka?"

"Are they our friends?"

Renton watched the person who looked so much like his teacher Dominic climb the stairs.

"You know what? I think they are."

............................................................

Alright, so. There were a couple questions I had received that I was gonna answer in this spot, but I accidentally deleted them. I apologize, and if you want to send those questions again, then please feel free. Also, do you prefer your endings with or without loose ends? Happy, sad, or bittersweet?

And, most important of all: Do you prefer movieHolland, or tvHolland?

Oh, and feel free to spread word of this story around. (Insert clip of Wicked Witch of the West telling her evil monkeys to fly)

Just kidding. You guys aren't monkeys. Although I'm not so sure about the people over in the gundam* sections.... .

*no offense if you like that stuff. Feel free to insert any anime name you don't like.

Finally, this super-long footnote is over. You may go back to doing whatever it is you do. Probably better than wasting time reading this, anyway.

Buh-bye now. Please write. At least send a postcard.

Seriously, you can stop reading now.

End of line.

**Edit**: I recieved the questions again. Here they are, and my answers.

Q: Are you gonna decide Nirvash return(Because Eureka 7 will be empty without Nirvash)?

A: The jury is still out on this one. Sorry.

Q: Also whos the villain in your Eureka 7 fic?

A: Really, the whole concept of a 'villain' is overrated. There's going to be antagonism, sure, but I'm not sure the story really needs a main 'villain' character. I like to avoid completely making up characters unless.... well, let's just say I have criteria.

Q: Also how Holland(movie) will react when he saw Holland(series)?

A: It'll be... interesting.

Q: When Eureka reunite with Renton

A: At some point in the near future (sort of).

Q: and will Eureka(movie) will regain her old self again?

A: Now why would I do that when I like her new, mind-wiped self so much better?

Q: Also will Devilfish with super pack appear in this fic?

A: Prob'ly not. And wasn't it destroyed? I seem to remember it getting destroyed.

Q(?):I think Nirvash final form in movie stronger as its combine with TheEnd.

A: That's.... good....


	7. Tangled Up in Blue

"Jabberwock to Cheshire Cat, I'm in position.."

Holland looked at the time display. They were actually doing pretty good today.

"How about you, Caterpillar?" he asked over the team's shared frequency.

"I told you," Hilda grumbled, "I'm not The Caterpillar. I'm the Queen of Hearts."

"Oh, come on," Matthieu said from his cockpit. "That name is way overused."

"I. Am. Not. A. Caterpillar," Hilda said.

"Hilda, just shut up and tell me where you are," Holland growled.

He heard a sigh from the other end.

"I'm in position now, Cheshire Cat."

"Good."

He flipped to another frequency, while leaving the team one open. Moondoggie's face appeared.

"How about you, Knave of Spades?"

"We'll be in position in just a shake," the blond pilot mumbled distractedly, clearly focusing on his flying.

Holland turned back to his own controls. Wind flow was good. Visibility was a low. Everything was perfect. Well, except for his KLF, but it was supposed to be that way.

"So, Leader, could you remind me again why we're in the middle of the densest fog bank on the planet?" Matthieu asked.

"Dammit, Matthieu... I mean Jabberwock... weren't you listening in the briefing?"

"Well... no, not exactly..."

Holland put a hand over his eyes, and counted to ten.

"Look, Jabberwock," Hilda said, a bit irritably, "this is one of the last hold-outs of those idiots who still think the People's Army exists. We are, in case you forgot, very, very high on their 'shoot like hell if you see them' list."

"Oh," Matthieu said, cowed.

Holland clicked back to the other frequency.

"Knave, you in position now?"

"Yeah, Cheshire Cat. We'll be ready for the Tea Party."

"Good."

Sighing, Holland leaned back in his seat, looking out the cockpit. The fog really was thick. He could even see the ledges of the canyon around him. He knew he'd have to be careful not to hit them when the operation started.

It was crazy, but he just felt... relaxed. Normally before a battle, he felt tense like a spring. Or at least, that was how he felt before The Flood.

_I mean, it's not like we're fighting the Image. It's just unstable guys in run-of-the-mill, outdated military KLFs._

It was gonna be cake.

"Uh... Cheshire Cat?" Hilda's voice cackled over the communications line.

He looked at the time display. Then he did a double-take.

_Dammit! Can't afford to get_ too _relaxed...._

"Alright!" he yelled. "Tea-time! Tea-time!"

Holland gripped his controls, and brought the Devilfish to attention. The old thing wobbled a bit, and its wounds from its last battle were still acting up. Holland hadn't had it fixed purposely. This would be it's last flight.

_Too bad, too. It really was a great ride._

Of course, there were some memories attached to it that Holland now recognized as bad ones. Every time he piloted it nowadays, he felt like those were eating away at him. Maybe that was why he was doing this whole crazy thing in the first place.

As fast as he could, as silently as he could, Holland's machine rose into the fog on it's board.

He could hear Matthieu had some new mix playing in his cockpit. It had a good beat.

Then, he heard gunfire to his right. It sounded like old military artillery pieces. That meant Hilda was on time.

The Devilfish shot out of the small canyon, revealing itself to the military base. Or at least, he would have, if the fog wasn't so thick.. The large black fortress loomed ominously, and Holland could see the twinkling lights of gunfire on the other side of the stronghold.

Fortunately, per the plan, the idiots in the base were much too busy with Hilda to deal with him.

_That probably won't last long._

And there, as if on cue, came the base's enormous siren. Holland pushed the button to cancel outside sound.

Several squadrons of KLFs, some with more units than code dictated, rose into the fog; they were only visible from the bright shine of their trails. Although, Holland could make out the shapes of a few close by. It looked like they had even pushed those archaic models into use from the first years of the Image invasion.

_Suckers._

"Alright, Jabberwock! Your turn to join the party!" he said.

"Yes sir, Leader, sir," Matthieu said a little unenthusiastically.

"Oh come on.... Matthieu, where's.... your sense of..... adventure?" Hilda called, engaged in what sounded like a furious firefight on her end.

"I just thought we were here to steal that Dream Energy stuff, not play with stinking Mark-Ones," he said.

"Let me deal with the important stuff, Jabberwock," Holland said. "You only need to worry about what I tell you to do. Alright?"

"Yeah, alright," he heard Matthieu say resignedly.

"Now, are you gonna join the party or not?"

"I'm there right now! Can't you hear it?" Matthieu asked irritably.

Realizing what was wrong, Holland let the sound from the outside filter through. Now he could hear another gun that definitely belonged to Matthieu's KLF.

"O.K, good," he said. He turned to the other frequency.

"Knave, you ready?"

"When you need a ride, just call," Moondoggie said.

"Alright, then I'm going in," Holland said, more to himself then anyone.

He turned his KLF, still unnoticed, towards the bowels of the fortress. He kind of hoped that those idiot military guys had already sent everyone against Hilda and Matthieu. Or else, this was gonna end really fast, really badly. Just because they were idiots didn't mean their targeting systems were.

He flew in over the walls, but so far, there was nobody to greet him. He veered towards the central tower. The diamond shape of the base hadn't been all that hard to figure out. A bit harder, but not very, was figuring out where they kept the stuff Holland needed.

He started landing next to their main tower. He could see the entire fortress through the fog, now. But still, nobody was out to welcome him.

_Bad manners, too, the bastards._

When the Devilfish had settled, Holland opened the cockpit. The bubble of metal flipped outwards, and Holland stood up.

It was really cold. Of course, that was the way it was supposed to be, considering they were on top of a mountain. The fog here wasn't really a fog bank at all, only a raincloud drifting by, minding it's business.

_Speaking of rain..._

It was drizzling hard, and starting to pick up. Holland flipped the collar of his jacket up to at least protect his neck. He hoped there wouldn't be a thunderstorm, although, by the near-night darkness of the clouds around them, he wouldn't hold his breath.

He looked around. The entrance to the main building was behind him, an unattractive, functional block of black steel. It was probably locked. The sirens were still going, a howling sound that made Holland want to claw out his ears, complete with annoying lights that bathed the inner court of the base in red.

Scanning the sky, Holland didn't see any trouble... yet. He had no doubt there would be, especially when they realized his true objective.

_But right now.... they're still ignorant military pigs._

He bent back down into his cockpit, setting up a couple things for later. He also grabbed several coil of rope, which he slung around his shoulder, and his assault rifle, as well as a grenade or two. He was already wearing enough body armor to stop a rhino from charging.

Finally, he had cannibalized the communications system on his KLF to make a portable headset. It was a little small, but serviceable. In his ear, he could barely hear Matthieu and Hilda coordinating attacks together over the whine of the siren.

Thus armed, and starting to become soaked through, Holland leapt to the ground. He didn't bother locking the Devilfish. He wasn't going to be needing it, and he had already taken out the Compac Drive.

He rolled on the slippery concrete when he hit it, trying to absorb the blue. It hurt.

_Guess I'm not as young as I used to be._

And if that wasn't the honest truth, Holland didn't know what was.

He jogged over to the door into the military complex. He jiggled the handle, but as he had expected, it was locked.

_Time to do this the fun way, then._

He pulled a mine made specifically for this purpose out of his belt. He still felt a strange exhilaration at using explosives like this. He may not be as vicious as before, but he could still reserve that.

Holland planted the mine at the crack in the door, and set its time for three seconds. After that, he stepped fifteen paces away to the right of the door, just like he had been taught.

The satisfying explosion was, unfortunately, somewhat muted by the siren and the rain, now pouring down incredibly hard. Holland was beginning to feel the water around his ankles as it filled up the fortress' courtyard.

For a moment, Holland feared another Flood.

_But it can't be_, he told himself. _That was only caused by the reaction of the Image to Eureka and Renton_.

Even so, that didn't stop Holland from worrying_ just_ a little bit.

He heard boots coming through the water from behind the corner of the building. They had caught on.

_Dammit! Too busy thinking again!_

Growling in frustration, Holland kicked open the remains of the blown door and stormed inside.

Almost immediately, he stopped. It was dark. Very dark. He couldn't see anything.

He took a test step forward, and almost fell.

_Stairs._

That was interesting. The plans hadn't said anything about stairs. Water from the outside started pouring down the stairwell, creating an instant waterfall. Holland sighed.

_When are things going to go exactly according to plan?_

Cautiously splashing down the steps (several steps at a time), Holland heard the sound of the boots again, this time from the top of the stairs.

The door at the top of the stairs opened. Holland stopped, looking up to see several uniformed silhouettes at the top of the stairs, illuminated by the red light behind them.

Fortunately, that same red light shone on the steps, and Holland could see that he was almost at the bottom.

Before he could take those steps though, the enemy at the top of the stairs opened fire.

At least one round hit him in the side. Holland fell down the stairs, a bit surprised. When he landed, he thought he felt something in his leg pop. Getting up, he found he couldn't put much weight on it.

_Shit. Maybe I didn't think this one through so well as I could've._

Looking around, he could see two ways open to him. One to the right, and the other, naturally, to the left. He ducked behind the right corner, just before bullets tore up where he had been lying moments before.

_Well, I can at least give them an answer._

Holland ripped the pin out of a grenade. He threw it, as hard as he could with rope around his arm, up the stairs, when his enemies were taking a moment to reload.

This time, the explosion was incredibly satisfying. The walls shook, and smoke and debris poured down the stairs. Several bodies hit the bottom of the stairs also, although only a butcher would have recognized them as such.

Holland shook his head, trying to dispel their sudden ringing, and turned back to his course. The hallway ahead of him - at least, he thought it was a hallway - was equally dark.

Suddenly - proving that there was, in fact, a God - the lights turned on. Not bright lights, of course, but red emergency lights, that flashed and pulsated.

_Can't be picky, though._

"Intruder alert, roof courtyard. Repeat: Intruder alert, roof courtyard. All base troops, engage," a voice blared out over several speakers in the hall.

_Finally._

If they were referring to the Devilfish, then things really _were_ going according to plan.

"How's my birds-eye view, Knave of Spades?" he asked into his headset.

"Ready for your signal, Cheshire Cat," Ken-Goh informed him.

He flipped open the portable monitor he had with him: it showed the visual they had set up of the Devilfish. There were guys crawling all over it. At least forty, all heavily armed. They all looked confused.

_Jeez, that's a hell of a lot. These guys really are stupid._

Holland pressed a button on his wrist.

The Devilfish, for one, beautiful instant, turned into a swirling ball of blue and green flame, incinerating anyone too close. It was both elegant and breathtaking, somehow. Holland could literally see the implosion suck several people nearby.

Then, the actual explosion occurred, and Holland's view was cut out by a torrent of purplish smoke.

"Good riddance," he said to himself. Maybe he still did have some of that vicious streak.

Holland turned off the monitor, and limped toward the end of the hallway. When he opened the door at the end, though, he was met by the surprised faces of a platoon of guards.

"Christ!" Holland yelled, equally surprised. Before his enemy had a chance, he raised his rifle and fired off several rounds. All of them fell down. Several still moved, though, and groaned.

"Who's there? Identify yourself!" someone yelled from behind another corner to the left.

"I'm shooting at you! Isn't that identification _enough_?" Holland yelled back, and he tossed another grenade down the hall.

He ducked from the explosion among several of the still-surviving bodies, and felt several hands grab at him.

The grenade's blast made his ears ring again. Several shards of shrapnel flew past. A pipe must have broke, because several fountains of water started pouring in from the walls, adding to the already knee-high level of the water already filling up the hall.

Holland got up, turning around to quickly shoot several guys who looked on the verge of recovering, and then ran to the next corner.

Ready for anything, he inched around that corner and took a look. He was unsurprised to see more guards.

"There he is!" someone yelled.

"Get him!"

"Stop yelling, God! My ears are ringing already!" Holland called, and fired several shots at them. These ones appeared smarter than the last, though, and took cover around several more corners. Someone fired a round or two at Holland, and he ducked behind his own corner. The annoying alarm lights were starting to give him a migraine. Maybe it would've been better in the dark.

"Those were _some_ charges," Matthieu said in his ear..

"Well, the Devilfish wouldn't have gone any other way," Hilda said.

"Yeah," Ken-Goh said. "One of my friends found them when he went deep-sea diving over Warsaw base. Apparently, they had been working on something that would allow them to use ruined KLFs as weapons against the Image."

"Jabberwock, Caterpillar, what's your status?" Holland asked, taking a shot at the guards.

"Well, I've just about been killed three times – unh!" Hilda cut off for a moment.

Holland heard his enemies calling for reinforcements. That was never good. He checked his own ammunition. That was low, too.

"- make that four, but I don't think that's what you're asking, is it?" she grumbled.

"I get the picture. Jabberwock?" Holland said.

The guards were trying to use covering fire to get some of their guys right up next to him. However, they didn't coordinate very well. Holland shot several of them. One of them was definitely dead.

"Well, I've gotta say, Leader, you sure know how to throw a – unh! - Tea Party!"

"Not much better, then?" Holland asked.

"Nope. I've still got six on me. Ammo's runnin' low."

"I've got at least seven," Hilda said. "Managing to hold them off from in the canyons, but, Holland, we can't keep doing this for much longer."

A guard came sneaking up around the corner. Holland stepped back a little bit, and when the guy appeared, pumped several rounds into him. The ragdoll of a body splashed to the ground. The water was almost up to his thighs. It was getting incredibly difficult to move. Grenades wouldn't work so well if this kept up.

_Time to take advantage of it while I can, then._

He ran back up to the corner just as another guard was coming around. He brought the butt of his rifle down on this man's helmeted head, and shot him in the chest.

He used a hand-held mirror to sneak a look around the corner. Someone shot it out of his hand, but fortunately, he had caught the glimpse of the situation before they did. The guards were lining up on both sides of the wall now, ready to overwhelm him.

_Crap._

He had two options. No, maybe three. One, he could stay here and try and shoot them off one by one. However, that made him think very strongly of suicide. Second, he could try a grenade. But if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to get all of them. Third, he could retreat.

_Like hell I'll retreat._

He decided on the fourth option. He pulled the last of his mines out of his belt: he had four. Quietly, he set two on each side of the hall. He could hear the splashing of the guards trying to sneak up on him. The gushing pipes, though, were still the loudest, torrents of water rapidly filling the narrow hallway.

The walls shook. Something must've crashed into the ground up above. Holland hoped it wasn't one of his.

He set the timers for seven seconds. They wouldn't be able to see the dark mines against the dark walls, coated in the red siren-light.

That task done, he ran back towards the stairs as fast as he could with a leg that wouldn't work, and through nearly-waist high water. He knew he was making a lot of noise in his hasty escape, but that was fine. Let them think he had retreated. It'd put more surprise in what happened next.

When he thought he was far enough away, he kept going. Never could be too careful.

His leg was starting to really act up. He had to almost drag it through the water.

Then the buzz of a voice sounded in his ear.

"Jabberwock to Cheshire Cat, I just wanted to tell you tha-"

The explosion cut off the rest. Holland at least had his hands over his ears this time, but it still hurt like hell.. He knew he'd kill off his ears if he kept doing this shit.

It felt like the whole hallway jumped to the right. Holland fell, coughing, into the water. He could hear the debris splashing into the water behind him. Something hit his arm. Dark smoke filled the hall, and Holland could hear at least four more pipes had broken.

He was beginning to hate this mission.

When the smoke finally cleared, Holland was met with a grisly sight. The hallway looked like someone had just taken an enormous bite into it. Water was spraying everywhere, and most of the siren-lights had gone off in that area. There was no sign of the guards that had been after him.

"Jeez, Holland, what are you _doing_ down there?" Matthieu asked.

Holland started wallowing towards the hallway where the guards had once stood. Nobody shot at him.

"Sorry, Jabberwock," he said. "I couldn't hear what you said before. Could you say it again?"

"All I said was that I wanted to tell you that I'm grounded."

"What?" Holland asked, half-surprised, half-angry.

"They got my board. I'm holding out from the bottom of one of these canyon things with Hilda. I don't think we're gonna be able to keep it up much longer."

Holland cursed. The rope around his shoulder was beginning to get really heavy. Oh, and the armor. That was getting heavy too.

"Alright," he said, running a hand through his dirty, rubble filled, wet hair. "I'm trying to hurry. Just hang on for a minute, alright?"

"O.K," Matthieu said, and then the line clicked off..

"Jeez," Holland complained to the corpse of a guard he almost tripped over, "who'd have though you guys would be so much trouble?"

He pressed on. The next hallway was where they had been holding out for so long. There was no sign of them there, either. This entire stretch looked like it had been bombed out. Which it had.

The road split into three directions from here. One went left, and slightly up, which had the lights on. Another led down, and to the right; it's lights were flickering dangerously. Holland could see there used to be a door blocking this path. The water was plunging down it now, though, and to Holland's surprise, actually lowering the level in the hallway. In fact, the current tried to pull Holland down these stairs as well.

But the third path led straight forward. Holland knew that was the one he needed, partly because it said 'Hazardous Materials' on the door, but also because of the plans he had seen of the base.

Holland tried to open the door for this path. It was locked.

Alright, he officially hated this mission.

Grumpily, Holland searched through his pockets and belt. No more explosives. He didn't think he could kick down the door, either. It looked pretty thick. The handle didn't have the lock on it, either, so shooting through it wasn't an option. There were no windows.

_Dammit._

Holland didn't know which way he was supposed to go.

Suddenly, the door opened, and out came a frightened-looking scientist. Apparently, he hadn't expected to see a heavily armed man outside the door, because he immediately tried to close the door again.

Holland stuck his foot in the door. Water started rushing through. The scientist looked terrified. Holland smiled, and slowly pried the door open. The white-coated man's strength was negligible.

"Hello," Holland said in his best frightening tone. "I was wondering if I could view your research data. You see, I'm working on the same thing, and thought we might be able to compare notes."

"G-g-get away!" the scientist cried, and, abandoning his attempt to hold the door closed, pushed past Holland and through the hallways. Holland let him go. He wasn't important.

Holland stepped into the next room. It was a circular room, not a hallway, first of all, for which Holland was thankful.

It was quite a large space, actually, with scientific equipment all along the walls, all circled around a small shelf in the center of the room, which held canisters of what Holland wanted: L-17-10.

Water was starting to pool at the bottom level of the room, which held the shelf. There were no red emergency lights in the holding chamber. Everything was dark except for a single light that shone down on the middle of the room.

"Well, _that's_ suspicious," Holland mused.

He felt something cool and metal against the back of his head.

"So are you."

_Well, that's just great._

He felt the pistol push against his head.

"Drop your gun," the mystery man said.

But something about the voice reminded Holland of someone.

"_Will?_ 220J? Is that you?"

There was a pause.

"350Z? _You're_ the terrorist everyone's after?"

Holland grinned.

"It_ is_ you!"

He started to turn around, but felt the gun press harder into the base of his skull.

"_Not so fast_, 350," he heard his old friend say. This time, though, his voice seemed angrier.

"Actually," Holland said, cautiously turning back towards the center of the room, "I go by Holland now."

"Well, then, Holland, you still haven't dropped your weapon."

William's voice was cold as ice..

"Will? Come on! What's going on? You're not actually _working_ for these guys, are you?" Holland asked incredulously.

"I said_ DROP YOUR WEAPON_!" Will yelled, and smashed the gun over Hollands head.

Holland hit the ground, falling a little down the steps leading to the center of the room. His head hurt like hell. He found he had dropped his rifle.

He looked up behind him, finally able to see the perpetrator.

Will Baxter, or 220J, as he had been known after the Agony, stood there, his usually calm, cordial features twisted with rage. He hid his blond hair under a military cap, and his normally sparkling blue eyes were dull as flint.

"Shit, Will," Holland muttered, "you really _have_ joined them, haven't you."

Will didn't say anything, just pointed his gun straight at Holland's head.

"Will?"

No answer. The blond man only stood there, stock still, almost at attention. There was hate in his eyes. It looked like he was trying to decide what exactly to do with Holland.

"Why'd you do it? Why'd you join the military?"

Now Will spoke.

"_You_ joined the People's Army, Holland. I heard about it. Couple buddies of mine fought you."

Holland shrugged a bit.

"Well, yeah, but we did it illegally. You did it for real."

No answer.

"Didn't you have a house and everything too? And that girl, 450F? Martha? What happened to-"

Suddenly, Holland stopped, and realized his mistake. But before he could correct it, Will exploded.

"_Martha's dead you idiot!_ Along with everything I ever owned!"

His face was contorted in anger, his breathing heavy.

"It all got washed away in The Flood! The one _you_ caused!"

His hand shook as he spoke. Holland was a little worried he'd fire the pistol on accident.

Actually, he was worried Will would fire the gun on purpose.

Will stood there, looking like he had more to say, but was afraid of what would happen if he said it.

"Why did you have to do it, 350? Why couldn't you just accept the way things were?"

This struck Holland as stupid.

"_Why?_" he asked angrily. "You wanna know _why?_ Because the world was going to kill us all off early! You, of all people, should know that!"

Will shook his head in disbelief.

"You idiot!" he argued. "We were still _alive._ Wasn't that enough? Forget how much time we had, we at least _had what we had._ Now, thanks to you, hundreds of thousands of people will never have _anything!_"

Holland scoffed.

"Fine. If you wanted to be content with the way things were, then that's your business. We weren't. And we did something about it."

"You killed innocents around the world!"

Will looked Holland straight in the eye.

"And now," he said, "I'm going to kill you."

Holland didn't think Will had it in him, but he didn't say anything.

Actually, sometimes he did feel like he should die for what he did. But that was why he was here. To make up for it. To try and atone. He was trying to fix the lives of two people who had already gotten mixed up in their... no, his idiocy.

But he couldn't say that to Will. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't.

"Well?" he asked his old friend. "Either shoot me or not. You're taking all day about it."

Will's hand shook. But it looked like he was going to do it. Holland sighed internally.

_Oh well. I had a good run. Talho and Wendy are alright, and they'll manage without me. I hope Matthieu and Hilda get out alright._

Really, he would've liked to fix those regrets he had, but, if this was how he had to go, than he supposed he could accept it.

But then, Holland saw Will stop. The blond man in the uniform was listening to something in his ear. A radio, maybe?

A look of great annoyance came over his face.

"Come on," Will spat disgustedly, gesturing with the pistol. "I'm supposed to take you to the command center. They say they want you _alive._"

Holland was surprised.

"Really?" he asked.

"_Yes, _really!" Will said, angrily.

"No," Holland said. "I mean, you're really going to just let me go like that? You're going to listen to orders instead of fulfill your revenge for all the souls that have died?"

Will shrugged.

"They didn't say they _weren't_ going to kill you. They just said they aren't _right now._ I figure I can wait," he said.

He beckoned to Holland with the gun again.

"Come on," he said. "Terrorists first."

Holland got up, slowly and painfully. His leg hurt terribly, not to mention the recently added pain in his head.

Still, that didn't keep him from thinking clearly. Will was holding the gun like a robot, his arm bent at almost ninety degrees.

As Holland passed by his old friend, he snapped out his arm, grabbing the pistol and twisting it out of Will's hand.

Will yelled in surprise, trying to wrestle the gun back from Holland. He kicked Holland's leg. Holland grunted in pain, but held onto the gun.

They struggled for control of the weapon, scuffling closer to the stairs.

Suddenly, Hollands foot couldn't find any floor below it, and the pair fell down the steps.

Holland landed more or less deftly, but Will hit his head against the tile floor. He didn't move.

"Will?" Holland asked, poking his friend with the pistol.

He put his ear to Will's chest. His heart was still beating. That was good. He was just knocked out. That was even better.

Holland stood up.

"Sorry, Will, but you chose the wrong side," he said to the fallen man, and then turned towards the center of the room.

The shelf that held the L-17-10 was smooth metal, and about as tall as Holland was. Standing next to it, Holland could feel the temperature drop rapidly, almost like he was standing outside in the snow.

Large canisters lined both sides of it, about the size of footballs, only looking more like oversized pills. They had labels, but they all said the same thing:

MATERIAL L-17-10. HAZARDOUS MATERIAL. DO NOT EXPOSE TO HEAT. HANDLE WITH EXTREME CAUTION.

Holland stepped carefully around the shelf. He thought the canister on the far right of the middle shelf looked fine for his purposes.

He unfurled the rope from around his shoulder.. Working quickly, he tied two nooses at both end of it.

"Knave of Spades? This is Cheshire Cat."

"Cheshire Cat? We hear you."

"Time for you guys to join the Tea Party. They should be all spent by now.. Sweep 'em up."

"Alright, Cheshire Cat. Can do."

Holland raised a hand up to his ear, and turned to the other channel.

"Caterpillar?"

"Jesus, Holland. When're you going to be done in there? I was beginning to think you died, or something."

"Very funny. Look, help should be on the way in... thirty seconds. How are you guys doing?"

"Well, we're both gonna need serious repairs on the KLFs, but, other than that, we should be fine."

"How's Jabberwock?"

"Oh, he's with me in here. He's unconscious."

"What?"

"The fog's clearing up. They saw where he was, and collapsed the canyon wall above him. In all the confusion, I was able to pull him out, and I'm using the rubble as cover, but he's out cold."

_Dammit._

"Well, help should be there now."

"Yeah, I see them."

Holland could hear the loud sound of the Gekko's guns on Hilda's end of the line.

"You _are _going to be done there in a little bit, right?" Hilda asked.

Holland nodded to himself.

"Yeah. Just wait for my signal."

"Alright. Queen of Hearts, out."

Holland finished tying the rope correctly. He shrugged. If she wanted to have a certain codename, he wasn't going to stop her.

He brought one of the nooses up to the edge of the canister he wanted. Even from there, the canisters just radiated cold. It felt like his hand would fall off. That woman – Sonia – had said that was just the cooling system, but still. It was cold.

With one end of the canister in the noose, and the other noose poised beyond that, Holland slowly teased the freezing pod out of it's shelf.

When it had reached the edge of the shelf, and started to fall through the noose, Holland used let it fall through the other loop, and then tightened both. The canister was firmly caught.

He held the rope carefully. Even though the canister was now firmly in his grip, he still had to be careful with it.

"Alright," he said into his headset. "Cater- I mean Queen of Hearts, meet me in the Tugly Wood."

"Roger, Cheshire Cat."

Holland limped back up the steps, casting a passing glance at Will. It was too bad he was a military idiot, now. Holland might have took him with them.

Walking back through the hallways was much easier than it had been before. In fact, the whole complex seemed deserted. There was no more siren, although the lights were still flashing. Holland bet that the fortress had been abandoned.

The pipes had apparently emptied, because there were only puddles left in the long, body-ridden halls.

Holland grunted in pain as he limped up the long stairway back to the courtyard. He kind of wished that he hadn't hurt his leg. But, it couldn't be helped. So long as everyone else was fine, Holland was fine.

_It's weird. I don't think I really care about myself anymore. Before everything with Renton and Eureka, all that mattered was my survival, and Talho's. Now, though, things are different. I wonder if it was Renton or Eureka who did that? Or something else?_

He shook his head. He didn't know. That sort of thing, thinking about himself, was not a luxury could afford. Not right now.

He pushed open the door he had broken into. The rain had stopped. In fact, the fog was breaking up. A cold wind was starting to blow through the courtyard, and a yellow sun shone overhead.

That sun was soon obscured by the large shape of a KLF.

Holland waved as Hilda landed. He made sure the canister was good and tight in it's makeshift cradle.

The KLF dropped to its knees, extending a hand out to him. Holland limped over and crawled onto it. The hand closed partway, protecting him, and the canister from the elements. She even cradled that hand with her other hand, causing the KLF to look, ridiculously, like it was praying.

"Well, guys, mission accomplished."

"Yeah," Hilda said in his ear. "Until, of course, the next time we do something stupid like this."

"How's Matthieu?"

"Fine. He woke up, thought he was back in his recording studio at the Major General's. We packed his KLF on the Gekko."

"Alright," Holland said. "Let's go home."

…..................................................................

"So, I'm sure you've all noticed by now that we have... visitors."

There were nods. Those who had seen the other Renton and Eureka looked incredibly unsettled, and those who hadn't yet were just confused.

Talho was standing next to the door. Stoner was leaning against the balcony outside, looking in. Everyone else was arrayed around the room, either sitting on Stoner's bed, or one of the many chairs. Gidget and Moondoggie were sitting on the ground.

"So, what exactly is going on here, Holland?" Talho asked, with just a touch of annoyance.

Holland grimaced.

"Well," he said, "we don't really know yet."

"That's helpful," Hap muttered.

Holland glared at him. He was trying the best he could to explain it to all of them.

"All we know is this: they look almost exactly like our Renton and Eureka, and they don't come from... our planet."

"So, they're like, aliens?" Gidget asked.

Holland put a hand behind his head.

"More like... people from the other side of a mirror."

He looked over at Stoner.

"Right?"

Stoner shrugged.

"You know as much as I do," he said.

"Oh, come on!" Matthieu complained. "That's bull!"

Holland sighed.

"Stoner, would you tell them what you know? I'm horrible at explaining things."

After stomping out his cigarette, Stoner walked into the room next to Holland.

"Look," he said. "It's really quite simple. They aren't from our universe. They recognize some things in this world, like KLFs, and battleships. They came from a place called Warsaw. They even know some things, and say some things, that I've never heard of before."

"But-" Matthieu started, but stopped, as Stoner held up a finger.

"I'm not finished. They don't know other things. For example, they had never seen the ring, or Renton and Eureka's moon before. And they don't know anything about lifting."

"They don't know lifting?" Moondoggie asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently, from where they come from, a world I assume is very much like ours, lifting doesn't exist."

"Alright, but if that's all true," Hilda said, "then what do they want? Why are they here?"

Stoner shrugged.

"From what I understand, they got here by accident."

Mischa raised an eyebrow.

"Accident? How do you cross over into another universe on accident?"

"We don't know yet," Holland spoke up. "But we're going to find out."

"How?" Talho asked.

"We're going back to Tresor," Stoner said.

"We?" Ken-Goh said, surprised. "You too?"

Stoner paused. Holland could see him mulling over what to say.

"I... just feel... responsible for these kids now," he finally managed.

"What about everything else?" Talho asked. "We have a political summit next week, not to mention we were supposed to meet with Jurgens in two days to keep up appearances. What about that?"

Holland had a ready answer.

"We can just tell everyone we're following a lead on Renton and Eureka down to the Earth."

"But why?" Talho asked.

"Why _what?_"

"Why are we doing this for two people we don't even know?"

Holland looked at her.

"Talho, we_ do_ know them. This is Renton and Eureka we're talking about."

She shook her head.

"No, it's not. I can already tell their personalities are different. Am I right, Stoner?"

Stoner nodded.

"Yeah," he admitted. "They are very different people. But-"

"But what?"

"They're just two kids trying to get home. Are you really going to deny them that? Regardless of what we 'have' to do, shouldn't we help them? I thought the whole point of Gekkostate was doing the right thing."

"No," Talho said, "the whole point was _to stop Dewey_, and the wars we've caused. That's it."

"Alright," Holland interjected, standing between them. It looked like Stoner wanted to say something else, but, fortunately, didn't. Holland was surprised. Stoner wasn't normally the conflict type.

"Let's vote," Hap said.

"Yeah," agreed Anemone.

"I concur," Jobs said.

Holland looked around.

"Does everyone want to do that?" he asked.

There was the sound of general assent. Although Talho, Mischa, and Moondoggie looked opposed to the idea, everyone else seemed alright with it.

"O.K, then," he said, "Hap, how do you want to do this?"

"Secret ballot?" Hap shrugged.

"Stoner, you got any paper?" Holland asked.

"Uh..." Stoner mulled it over. "Yeah, I think I do. It's in my briefcase... no, wait, I got rid of that thing... so... it's probably in one of the drawers around here."

"Could you get it?"

The photographer nodded. He went over to one of the desks in the room, and ruffled through it. He came back with several sheets of blank paper.

"Alright," Holland said. "Hap, you wanna-"

Hap came over, and Stoner handed him the paper.

Then, he went around, and gave out half a sheet of paper to each person.

"Just write 'yes' or 'no'," Hap said. "Yes means we'll help out the... what are we calling them?"

Holland shrugged.

"I don't know. Just Renton and Eureka for now."

Hap didn't look like he liked the idea.

Dominic spoke up.

"What about Rentin and Eurecka?" he said.. The way he pronounced their names was just slightly different, but noticeable enough.

"Sure," Holland said. "That works. Or, 'the other Renton and Eureka'. Whatever works."

Hap shrugged.

"Alright," he said. "Yes means we'll help out 'Rentin and Eurecka,' and no means we won't. I suppose you can abstain, but that's really just stupid if you do. Fold your paper in half, and then I'll come around and collect it. No looking at anyone else's paper, obviously."

Everyone shifted so that nobody else could see their papers.

"Uh... what are we gonna write with?" Woz asked.

"Oh for the love of-" Holland put a hand over his face. Sighing, he turned to Stoner.

"Pencils?" he asked.

Stoner went around and gave everyone spare pencils or pens.

For a while, there was only the tiny sound of scratches on paper. After a little bit, Hap went around and collected the folded sheets.

"Woz, it has to be 'yes' or 'no' or 'abstain'. You can't write anything else," he said, handing the paper back.

When he had finally gotten everyone's papers together, he showed them to Holland and Stoner, and they tallied them up.

"Alright," Hap said, a little annoyed. He glared a little bit at everyone as he said it. "The final tally is 5 – 3 – 5, with five who say yes, five who say no, and three who chose to abstain. I hope you know this means we'll have to vote again."

"Wait a minute," Talho said. "Holland didn't vote."

"Oh," Holland said, surprised. "I guess I didn't."

Hap turned to him.

"Well? What'll it be?"

Holland looked around at everyone watching him.

"I guess the whole 'secret ballot' thing would be kinda pointless now, huh?" he asked.

Hap nodded. Holland took a deep breath.

"Well, that's good," he said, "because I want everyone to know where I stand on this."

There was a long pause.

"....And?" Hap asked.

"We're going to help this other Renton and Eureka get home," Holland said firmly. He looked directly at Talho as he said it.. Her face, unsurprisingly, was skeptical. With each word, though, she seemed to listen a bit more."Because we've all had the experience of almost having our home becoming lost forever. How do you think they must feel? Just like we did, back when we thought the world might get blown up by Dewey! We didn't let him take our home away from us, and we're not going to take let these guys get their home taken away, either."

There was a long silence.

"Alright," Hap finally said. "The final score is 6 – 3 – 5."

He threw away the now meaningless scraps of paper.

"Looks like, for now, Rentin and Eurecka are our friends."

..............................................................................

How's everyone doing? I wanted to ask you: do you like the way I'm doing it right now, with only two or three viewpoint shifts in one chapter, or do you think it would work better with lots of different viewpoint shifts, maybe even revisiting certain viewpoints in a given chapter?

And, a question to get you thinking. How do you view the two Rentons as different? Would Renton from the tv series exact revenge if someone he loved was lost? Would movieRenton?

Edit: This section is gone because I got the response I needed. Readers are now able to submit anonymous reviews.

Beta credits to alaska-sama.


	8. Castles Made of Sand

Renton groaned. He didn't want to wake up; everything was sore. His head hurt. His breathing felt constrained, and forced. He could barely even feel his right arm; it seemed numb. He couldn't move it.

He didn't want to open his eyes. Beyond the warm safety of his eyelids, was a bright, white light. He knew it would be painful to look at it.

But he opened his eyes anyway. He was right – the bright light hurt terribly, and Renton quickly squinted the other way.

Renton found he was on some sort of medical bed. There was a mask over his nose, and a tube connected that to some malicious-looking equipment.

He looked down. He was no longer in the clothes he had worn for the past year, but instead a plain hospital gown. His arm was in a cast. He could feel bandages applied in several other places on his body.

_Where am I?_

Searching his brain, he could find no answer. The last thing he remembered was...

_Fire._

That was right. The Warsaw KLFs had landed, and the pilots had started to get out, but the pain in Renton's arm just kept getting worse, and he kept finding more and more difficult to breath.

_I must have blacked out_.

But where was he now? A military base? A hospital?

There was no answer.

The room he was in was small, and spartan. There was his bed, or more precisely, table, with it's bright light shining down from above. The rest of the room was dark.

The right side of the room was filled with a cluster of devices and machines, several of which were whirring or making strange noises. The far wall held a plain wooden door, and next to that was a large tinted window. Renton could just barely make out the movement of shapes in the – hall? – beyond.

Renton leaned his head back against the uncomfortable pillow provided. He didn't like waking up in strange places; It usually meant he wasn't where he wanted to be.

For a while, nothing happened, just the silent pump of the oxygen from the machine near his bed, and the small sound of the air conditioning in the ceiling. Renton tried to move his arm in the cast, but it just wouldn't respond. Pretty much everything else worked fine, although every inch of Renton's body was sore, and his head felt like it would burst open.

The door opened.

A woman walked in, but stopped as soon as she saw him. She had on a nurse uniform, but there was a red insignia on one of the lapels of her uniform that Renton recognized as Warsaw's emblem. So at least he knew he was in Warsaw.

"Oh," she said, after a little while. "You're awake."

"Where am I?" Renton asked, although his words came out strange and nasally with the machine hooked up to his nose..

The nurse smiled.

"Well, you're safe, Mr. Thurston, and that's all the doctor wants you to worry about right now."

Renton sighed.

"Can you tell me_ anything?_" he asked, although he already knew the likely answer.

The nurse shook her head, a look of apology on her face.

"Sorry, I'm not authorized."

Then her face brightened.

"But, I can tell you you'll be debriefed by the Chancellor himself! He personally asked to do it when he heard who you were."

Renton struggled to remember if he knew anything about this Chancellor. His memory was still sluggish.

_Wait, isn't it Jurgens? That military captain?_

That felt right. In that case, Renton wouldn't mind talking to him. He seemed like an honest man, and could probably tell Renton the whereabouts of the Gekko.

The nurse, after Renton remained silent, walked over to one of the machines, and started to scribble figures on a clipboard she held.

"Wait," Renton said. The nurse looked up.

"Yes, Mr. Thurston?"

"Could you tell me... what happened to Ms. Annika? Or.... Sergeant Annika?"

The young woman thought about it for a moment.

"I'm not quite sure. I might have heard something about her, but really, nobody has told me anything since you arrived. And I haven't really talked to anybody about anything other than your condition."

"Oh," Renton said. Then, apologetically: "I'm sorry I'm such a bother."

The nurse looked at him in surprise. Then she laughed, waving the comment away.

"Bother?" she asked. "Don't be silly! This is my job, and besides, taking care of you is an _honor_."

Renton felt a bit nervous, and embarrassed about the whole 'celebrity' situation, so he didn't respond to this, and instead tried to appear busy adjusting his cast.

The nurse admonished him for this.

"Oh, don't mess with it," she said. "It's how it's supposed to be."

"Sorry," Renton said quickly.

"Its fine," the nurse said. Then, she went back to their earlier conversation.

"As a matter of fact," she pondered thoughtfully, "I think they said the Chancellor would be here by 1800."

Renton converted the time in his head.

_6:00?_

"What time is it now?" he asked.

The nurse looked at a watch.

"Oh, around noon," she said.

"Really?" Renton asked, surprised. "It feels like night."

The nurse nodded understandingly.

"Yeah," she said. "I get that a lot. It's because we're underground. No windows anywhere."

"We're.... underground?" Renton asked, confused.

"Yes," the nurse said, in a manner that told she'd explained this many times before. "It was only built in the last five years. The military wanted a base ready for attack from above, since most bases in the area have been open-air. Then, all these wars break out, and it proves really useful."

"So..." Renton said, "this_ is_ a military base."

The nurse opened and closed her mouth a few times.

"No, I.... I didn't.... that's not...." she tried to say.

Renton picked at his cast a little.

"I think I need to go deliver these test results," the nurse finally said. She left without another word.

Renton sat in the small room, alone. He felt... lost. More lost than when he had been trekking through the forest.

He was all alone in this place. He may have gotten out of the forest, but so long as they held him here, he couldn't do anything.

_I can't talk to Holland. I can't talk to Eureka. I don't even think they'll let me contact Ms. Annika._

He had always had someone at his side, for more than a year now. Eureka, of course. But before that, when Eureka was gone, the kids..

_Where are you, Eureka? Are you alright? What should I be doing right now?_

There was no answer but the soft, mechanical sound of the pump. Renton fidgeted, the bed-table wasn't comfortable, not at all. He thought he might have felt better on the ground.

He wasn't in his right mind. He knew that. He knew that losing Eureka was seriously altering his thoughts, his temperament. But he didn't know what he could do about that. Renton doubted he could do anything about it.

After several long minutes of trying to think a way out of this situation, alone and under the control of a military he wasn't yet sure if he could trust, Renton gave up.

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to wait until their Chancellor Jurgens showed up. Renton knew him – albeit marginally – so maybe he would be able to help. That was probably his best chance.

And from there... Renton could contact the Gekko. Or better yet, ask Jurgens where the Gekko was, and if he had a way to contact it..

If he got back to the Gekko, he could find Eureka. The two had become inextricably connected in his mind. She was alright. If she wasn't, he would know. He could say that with certainty.

His stomach woke him out of his reverie. Renton realized he was very hungry. And thirsty. In fact, he didn't think he'd had anything to eat in the past two days, except half of a rations bar from Ms. Annika.

At least, he thought it was the past two days. Really, he had no idea how long he'd been here. It could have been a week, for all he knew.

He felt a pang of fear. If he had been here a week... and nobody had found Eureka yet...

Renton had to get out of here, now.

But time wouldn't cooperate. The slow pump of the oxygen machine provided a dull tempo to the impossibly long time that Renton lay in that room.

Nobody came into the room. He didn't know the time. The nurse had said six o'clock, right? Renton could have sworn it had been at least three hours already.

He stared listlessly at the ceiling, his mind wandering.

Renton wondered what went wrong. What had happened, exactly, that he was in this position? Hadn't he and Eureka done everything they were supposed to do?

_But if that's true... than why am I in this situation? Eureka's lost. I'm stuck here._

Why did these things happen?

Of course, Renton knew the practical answer. There was a war going on. More than one war, actually. He didn't know how many, but there were more.

But somehow, the practical answer didn't satisfy him..

_Dammit, sis! What am I supposed to be doing?_

Sighing, Renton shook his head. No, his sister's opinion wasn't needed anymore. He could find this out on his own. When he met her, for the first time, really, he found his sister not exactly as he had expected.

But really, he and Eureka were only two people. They couldn't do everything that the world demanded. Sometimes, Renton thought that going away would just be the best answer.

Maybe.... maybe when they rejoined the Gekko, Renton could talk to Holland about all this. From what he had heard, Renton knew Holland was probably a busy guy. But maybe he and Eureka could convince Holland to not include them on.....

But no. He had promised Eureka, hadn't he? That they would solve this planet's problems. Or the wars, anyway. And Renton wasn't about to let go of that promise.

Renton realized he was asleep.

..........................................................

But if he was asleep, then was this a dream?

No answer.

Black on white. Renton stood, looking into the face of Dewey, growing out of a metal wall. The face was mottled and twisted, now, more skull than anything.

But still, it smiled, a toothy, haunting grin, and tilted to the side to look at him.

It didn't say anything, but Renton already knew what it would say.

'_How sad_', it would say. '_You killed me, and escaped my, admittedly brilliant, plan. But you didn't accomplish anything. What were you hoping for? A utopia? You've only made things worse. You're a fool, just like the rest of them. Holland was an idiot for trusting you. Of course, I didn't expect any different._'

"You're wrong!" Renton yelled, although he was shrinking, and could hear his voice getting smaller and smaller. "We got rid of you! That's more than you could do to us!"

A ghastly chuckle.

'_Admittedly, Holland's little gang was rather hard to eliminate. At least, for the forces I threw at it. You do realize that, if it had been part of my plan, I could have wiped you all out with but a wave of my hand? You lived because I wanted you to live. Nothing more._'

Renton felt his fist clench, his feet turn into turpentine underneath the water, which was slowly rising up around his ankles.

"We're going to solve all this," he said, almost threateningly. "Eureka and I aren't going to stop until we've solved the mess we've created."

'_Oh, I'm sure you will. However, take some advice from me. There's no way to solve all these... conflicts with your mindset. Think. The people love to fight. It's one of their basic needs. They don't care about each other, only about satisfying that need. Why care about the person from another place who you never meet? Bomb them, and they're gone in an instant. Not your problem_.'

'_Don't you see? The only way this rabble could be solved was if someone, like me, were in control_.'

Someone was playing music, in the background. Renton could hear a symphony, but he couldn't see where it was coming from. A flock of blue skyfish flew by.

When he looked back, Renton saw that Dewey's head was no longer attached to a wall. Now, the full man stood in front of him, his white uniform glistening in the sun. And yet, that same skeletal head remained.

The toothy smile grew.

'_You aren't an idiot. Not like Holland. You see the only way this can end. The only way this can all go away. The fighting. The war. The suffering. You could wave it all away._'

"No!" Renton yelled. "I'm not like you! We can solve all this on our own."

'_Oh, but that's just it. You can solve it, yes. But isn't it obvious. You are the only person on the planet who could conceivably take the reigns of humanity. Think of the good you could do! Think of the achievements you could accomplish!_'

"But there's got to be another way!"

The rotting skull mulled it over.

'_Well, I suppose. You could simply pick a side, and wipe out all the others. That's a fairly straightforward way of going about it, and really rather barbaric for my tastes, but it would suffice._'

"I couldn't take over!" Renton said. "I'm just a kid! I don't know anything about that sort of thing!"

Renton shivered. Why was he coming up with reasons that he couldn't do it? He didn't need a reason besides the fact that it was wrong. Right?

The skull of Dewey grinned wider then ever.

'_I don't think we're talking about you taking power this instant. No, that would be foolish and ill-received. No, the best option would be for us to wait, gain the peoples trust again. You're already a hero to them. A Thurston. Just give the people time, and a spectacle or two, and they'll be in your hand. In the meanwhile, I'm sure there's still some of my people who would be more than willing to teach you what to do, and say. A Thurston. Yes, they'd be pleased with that._'

"Why do you keep saying 'we'?" Renton asked. "I don't have anything to do with you!"

'_But you do. You're a descendant of The King. That means you have a responsibility to the people. Just as I did_.'

Renton couldn't find anything else to say. He knew what Dewey was saying was wrong, but he didn't know what to think anymore. Wasn't the war wrong?

_'Yes. Yes, the war is wrong. A horrible, pointless conflict. But it could all go away. Things could go back to how they were. Just you, and the Coralian Girl. At peace with the world, and each other. With your friends and family_.'

"But at what cost?" Renton asked, latching on to Dewey's reasoning. He wanted to refute this idea. He wanted to get rid of it. But Dewey wouldn't go away.

Now they were walking. Renton and Dewey. They were walking straight up the trunk of a tree that went on for miles. There was water below and behind them, slowly rising. In the sky, Renton could see the faces of people he didn't know. Faces he had only seen.

Renton turned to Dewey and found that the skull was gone, replaced by a handsome, kind face. When Dewey spoke now, it was no longer directly in Renton's head.

"Yes, at what cost? That is the eternal question. But this is my answer. Isn't any cost acceptable? If the world were to go up in flames, as it is, wouldn't you do whatever you could to stop it? If the people you know and love are going to die, won't you save them?"

"You're confusing things!" Renton said, frustrated.

"Am I? Who better to make the world how you want it than yourself?"

"But that's not what's supposed to happen. One person can't decide everything for everyone!"

"And yet, one person can put the end to all the conflicts that are raging as we speak. You know what you want. Fine. Step down, after you've done what you wanted to do. But at least put an end to the people's suffering!"

It was so hard not to believe this man; His voice invited one to trust him. It felt so_ right_ to trust him.

But Renton wasn't going to give up yet.

"But if you take control, and then step down, then what happens next? You're back at the beginning!"

Dewey smirked, and Renton realized he had cornered himself.

"Well, then there would seem to be only one option, wouldn't there? You can save the world. You know you can. Why not do it?"

"But why me? Why not someone more experienced, someone older?" Renton struggled.

The pair skirted the edge of an enormous crater, while inside lay the mushroom-like growths of thousands of scub coral. The sky was turning from white, to blue. Several picnic baskets floated by.

"Can you honestly trust anyone else? You are the only one who can accomplish this. You're the son of The King."

"But this isn't right," Renton complained. "Why am I even dreaming about this?"

Dewey looked off into the distance.

"A dream is only reality without borders, Renton Thurston. This is the reality. This is your dilemma."

"Eureka would never... I could could never accept this! This isn't what I want to do with my life! This isn't what's right," Renton said.

"Then ignore it. Do you want to see how long it takes before the people rip each other apart? Your friends will die, Thurston. I can guarantee it. Your precious Eureka almost died as a result of this needless bloodshed already. And you will do nothing about it?"

Renton shook his head.

"No," he said. "I will do something about it. We'll do everything we can to stop this. But not what you're suggesting."

"Then what? Follow my brother into madness? He's an idiot. He never accomplished anything with his life, and he won't now. What is his plan? Does he even have one? I doubt it."

Renton was quiet for a moment. He stopped walking. They were on a hill now. It was sunset. In front of them was Belforest. Dewey turned around and looked at him.

"You're wrong," Renton said quietly.

"Wrong?"

"Yeah. You think you know everything. But you don't know anything about people."

Dewey was silent.

"You don't believe that this world will ever be right. You think people need someone to guide them."

"That's just idealist nonsense."

Renton continued as if he hadn't heard Dewey.

"The world isn't perfect. I know that. And people aren't perfect. I know that too. But, when they believe in themselves, I'm sure everything will turn out alright. After all, that's what Eureka and I did. We just had to believe in each other. And then, everything else fell into place."

"That's your plan? _Believe?_ Don't tell me your an idiot like my brother, as well."

Renton turned to Dewey.

"We can solve the problems we've created. I know we can. If there's a way, we'll find it. And we won't need you."

He paused, and then turned back out towards the slowly setting sun.

"And you know what? I pity you. You lost. You could never have won. And you don't even know it."

The handsome face contorted, sneered.

"We'll see who's lost in the end, Renton Thurston. Keep my proposal in mind."

And he turned around, his cape swishing around royally as he left. There was a door on the hill; Dewey turned it's large brass handle, and disappeared through it.

"We'll prove him wrong, right Eureka?" Renton asked aloud.

"Yes. I'm sure of it."

And then he turned, and she was there. She nodded, a smile on her lips. He held her hand, and pulled her into a kiss. There wasn't the need for saying anything else.

They both stood on the top of a cliff, a waterfall plunging down around them. The sunset was eternal, it's loving gaze forever. The Gekko flew by above them, the LFOs in its wake. Renton saw Nirvash.

Everything couldn't be more right.

..............................................

The door opened.

Renton sputtered awake. He had always been a fairly light sleeper. He gazed around blearily. He remembered where he was, which was both good and bad.

He had had a dream, but he couldn't exactly remember it.

Before he could try and recall it, though, a man in resplendent red walked in.

Jurgens looked older. Much older. Renton had heard that leadership made people age faster, but he had never seen it with anyone he knew.

His mustache was droopier, and tinged with white. Actually, that pretty much described Jurgens entire face. Tinged with white. His hair was wispier, and his cheekbones more pronounced. Renton could tell he still tried to walk as upright as he possibly could, doubtlessly as his military training had taught him, but he still stooped a little bit.

His clothing was akin to a simple uniform, but deep red, and the whole effect was somehow more regal. He had on a hat like Renton had seen military types wear.

But his eyes were still filled with the fire that had struck Renton a year ago, and his smile no less warm than it had been.

"Well, Renton Thurston. I never would have imagined seeing_ you _again," he said, his voice still strong, and full.

He strode across the room in two steps, and shook Renton's uninjured hand.

"Nice to see you, uh... Chancellor," Renton smiled.

Jurgens waved it away.

"Not in here. Let the stuffed-up bureaucrats call me that. You're a friend. A good friend, not to mention a hero."

Renton felt his cheeks get a little red at that.

"Well, sir, we really just did what we had to do..."

"And it was still the most brave thing I've ever seen somebody do. I'm surprised we ever survived our duels with the Gekko, back in the old days."

But then he smiled a mischievous smile.

"Of course, I was Captain, so that may have had something to do with it."

Renton thought about it.

"You were there whenever that Black LFO was?"

Jurgens cocked his head.

"Type TheEnd? Yes, that was us, most of the time."

Renton laughed a little bit.

"Well, I was always surprised when we survived against _you_, so there's that," he said jokingly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Jurgens said. "You and Eureka in the TypeZero were always incredible, and annoying, from my perspective at the time. But still I always respected your abilities, and in fact, I've patterned the training for my KLF pilots off of your techniques."

Renton was about to say something to this, but someone in a black suit walked in, and whispered into Jurgen's ear. The Chancellor turned to him.

"Really? Well, that's unexpected. I thought she was somewhere else today. But if she's here, than sure."

The man turned to leave, but Jurgens stopped him.

"Oh, and could you get me a stool or something?" he asked.

The suited man nodded, and rushed out the door. Jurgens turned to Renton.

"Apparently, Maria came to see you."

Renton shook his head. He didn't know who that was. Jurgens nodded understandingly.

"Yes, I didn't expect you'd remember the name. But you'll remember her face, I think. She was my first officer."

"Uh... alright," Renton said.

There was a pause. The suited man came back in with a stool. Jurgens took it, and sat on it, near Renton's bed.

"So," Jurgens said, slowly. "Sergeant Schwartz tells me that you've lost Eureka."

Renton was silent.

"You'll find her," the Chancellor continued. "I have no doubt. And just in case, I have several squadrons of KLFs searching as we speak."

Renton looked up. It was too good to be true.

"Really?" he asked.

Jurgens shrugged.

"Of course. What else would we do? Leave her out there? I have a feeling you two are vital to the future of the planet. And, besides, Holland would kill me if I didn't."

"Holland?" Renton asked. "Do you know where he is?"

Jurgens nodded.

"I had a feeling you'd ask that. Yeah, we know where he is. In fact, as soon as you get better, we'll take you to him. We haven't been able to contact him recently, so he doesn't know about you being back yet, but he will."

Renton started laughing. He just couldn't help it. He laughed, tears streaming from his eyes. All the things that had happened to him, this nightmare, was over. He couldn't stop laughing.

Jurgens looked at him like he understood. Who knew, maybe he did.

Breathing heavily, wiping tears from his eyes, Renton looked up.

"Can you tell me where I am?"

Jurgens nodded.

"Yes. You're about two miles underground, and a mile or two south of the Tower."

"So, this is a military base, right?"

Jurgens nodded.

"Yes, although I have to admit, we use it more as an intensive care ward than anything else."

"And Sergeant Annika? She's O.K?"

"Yes, and complaining to anyone who'll listen about not being able to talk to you. You two make quite the team."

Renton smiled a little bit at that.

"Yeah, well, most of that was her idea. I sort of just followed her. And not very well."

Jurgens laughed heartily.

"Well, you haven't changed a bit, have you, Renton?"

Renton scratched his cast with his free hand.

"Well, people keep saying that."

Jurgens nodded.

"That's because it's true. Your a good person, Renton. A fine soldier, too, except for the independent streak. Can't have a soldier without discipline."

But then, he shrugged.

"Of course, judging from what you were able to do, maybe I should take another look at that."

Silence fell between them for a moment. Renton could hear people moving outside.

"So," Jurgens finally said, "any chance of you telling me where you and Eureka have been this past year?"

Renton nodded.

"Sure," he said. "We were traveling around the Earth."

Jurgens looked a bit taken back.

"Really? That's it?"

Then he laughed.

"Hiding in plain sight, I guess. I wonder why none of our exploration teams ran into you two. Of course, it's a big planet, so I suppose it's plausible."

He paused, still smiling. Then, he turned to Renton.

"So, then. How was your honeymoon on the Earth? As I take it, that's essentially what it was."

Renton opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"H-h-honeymoon?" he repeated.

Jurgens looked at him questioningly.

"Well, that's what it was, wasn't it? I mean, everyone around here calls you both Renton and Eureka Thurston anyway."

Renton looked down. He had never really thought about it before. What _was_ his relationship with Eureka, exactly? They were together, they had kids, sort of. But, they weren't technically married. Renton had never really had a big religious background, so he didn't know how everything was supposed to pan out.

"Uh..." he said, "I don't really know."

Jurgens shrugged.

"Well, you're young, so it's to be expected. Don't worry though, whatever is comfortable for you, I'm sure people will understand."

"So," Renton started, changing the subject. "If you didn't think Eureka and I were on the Earth, then where did you think we were?"

Jurgens looked at him, half sad, half amused.

"We didn't really know. In fact, most of us thought that we'd seen the last of you two, or that you'd gone away with the Other Half."

"How could we do _that?_" Renton asked. "And leave everyone behind? Our family? The Gekko?"

Jurgens brushed at his mustache a little bit.

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess you're right. It does seem a bit odd. Of course, you might not have had a choice."

Renton looked down.

"We almost didn't."

At this, Jurgens looked up, clearly eager to learn more. Renton looked at him.

"How much do you know about what happened that day?" Renton asked.

Jurgens chuckled.

"A lot less than we'd like to know, I can assure you. Basically, that Eureka was becoming the new control cluster. Somehow, you managed to ply her... consciousness, although that isn't even the right word, from the forming Coralians. Then, there was some sort of... energy released, and half the surface of the planet, and everybody on it, vanishes. Most scientists, or really, Dr. Egan, suspects that somehow, the energies released from the TypeZero when you rescued Eureka opened a... portal to another dimension."

Renton nodded.

"Yeah, I think that's all pretty much true," he said, looking down at his cast. "But if it wasn't for Nirvash, things wouldn't have turned out that way. I think Eureka and I would have still been alive, but we both would have been trapped. At least, that's how I see it."

"Well then," Jurgens said slowly. "Do you know where they all went?"

Renton shook his head.

"No, not really. Nirvash just said they would all go away, until a way could be found for humans and Coralians to coexist safely."

Jurgens looked at Renton thoughtfully.

"Hm."

The door opened behind them, and a woman in... traveling clothes walked in. Before she got very far, she saw Renton.

"Well," she said, smiling. "Renton Thurston."

Renton nodded.

"That's what everybody keeps telling me. Maria... Jurgens, right?"

She came over and shook Renton's hand, then went over and put her hands on her husband's shoulders.

"Yep," she said. "It would have happened eventually, anyway. Except that being in the military, this big lug wouldn't even consider getting in a relationship with one of his officers."

"It's against the code of military conduct," the Chancellor grumbled. "What was I supposed to do?"

Renton was surprised at this Maria. She seemed... lighter, than when he had met her last. Happier, in every way.

"Well, at any rate," Maria continued, "your Second Summer of Love really helped us along."

"Well," Renton said, grinning, "I'm glad I could help with something."

Really, this might have been the first time Renton had heard something really good coming out of his and Eureka's quest.

"Nonsense," Jurgens complained, as if reading Renton's mind. "You've been the catalyst for great change, and most of it is good. I can guarantee it."

"Then how come the whole world is tearing itself apart?" Renton muttered.

Jurgens shrugged.

"Because, all of us military types and bureaucrats are too wrapped up in ourselves for our own good. Trust me, none of these wars are your fault. You gave the world an amazing thing: a new chance. It's not your fault that, so far, people haven't realized what a privilege that is."

Renton didn't say anything. Maybe Jurgens was right. Maybe he wasn't. He wasn't sure of anything.

"I thought you were at Oberforth today?" Jurgens asked his wife.

"I was going to, but then he showed up, and I was just barely able to get off the ship before it took off," she said, nodding at Renton.

"I'm sorry if I-" Renton started, but Jurgens shook his head. Maria spoke.

"If you're saying sorry, then please don't. I wouldn't want to miss this. You do realize that this is something the world has been waiting for since almost the moment you left? I can't imagine what's going to happen next, but I wanted to be here."

Renton sighed, a little frustrated.

"Everyone keeps saying those sorts of things, but Eureka and I really didn't do anything to deserve all this! We just did what we had to do to help the people we loved, and even more than that, for ourselves!"

The two Jurgens looked at each other for a moment, then back at Renton.

"And that, Renton Thurston, is why you've become such a hero to the people," Jurgens said. "You saved the world, yes. But you saved it, not for material gain, or fame, or anything like that. You did it for both your love of you comrades, and your devotion to the one you loved. You don't seem to know how unique that really is."

He gestured up.

"We know how powerful that love was. It's on the moon. It's in the ring that's around our planet. We, daily, have reminders of what you two did."

"But... half the people on the planet... disappeared," Renton tried.

Maria shook her head.

"You'd be surprised how effectively everything was split up. Anyone who was on the land that was taken away, went too. You know that. But maybe you don't know that close families were never separated. Those who didn't normally live on the land that was taken away, found themselves somewhere else, as if by magic."

"Really?" Renton asked, amazed. "The Coralian did that?"

"Yes," Jurgens said, nodding. "Not only that, but people who had some people who had had horrible diseases, or medical conditions, not to mention Desperation Disease, found themselves cured."

He looked up at his wife.

"Am I leaving anything out?"

"The soil," Maria offered.

"Oh, yes. And the soil since then has been found to be incredibly fertile, in several areas. Deserts are shrinking. People are spreading out, rediscovering places that had been abandoned. Not only that, but when we're finally done exploring it, some people might even decide to move to the Earth, a completely new land, at least to us. Historians are already calling it the New Age's Manifest Destiny."

"But there's still the fighting," Renton said.

"Yes," Maria acknowledged, "but, inevitably, it will die down, once people realize that there are plenty of resources to go around, if we're careful. And that we don't have to fight to get what we want. Remember, we haven't had separate countries for a long time. We all still need time to get used to the idea. Then, maybe we can move forward."

Renton was quiet. It was amazing, really, how much these people's words helped him. Up until now, he had been unsure of everything he and Eureka had done. But hearing these people talk, he couldn't help but think that maybe everything would turn out alright.

_Except Eureka's still gone_.

"What about Eureka?" he asked.

"We're looking for you, like I said," Jurgens assured. "Don't worry. What we need to do right now, I think, is let Holland know about this."

He stood up, and turned to his wife.

"Maria, Kim is here, up in the Command Center. Would you let her know to contact Holland? Tell her I'll be right up to talk to him."

Maria nodded.

"Alright, but where are you going?" she asked.

"I have to check on something quickly with that Sergeant Annika, again. Give her a promotion or two. Let her see Renton here," he said, then went out the door.

Maria let out a small laugh. She turned to Renton.

"He always knows what he wants," she said, and then made her way toward the door. She turned to him before she left. "Stay here, heal up. It sounds like you'll be seeing your friends soon. And don't worry. We'll find Eureka. I'm sure she's fine."

"Thank-you," Renton said. "For everything."

She grinned.

"Don't mention it. Just stay smiling."

He did.

"I'll try."

…....................................................

It was going to rain again soon; The Trapar told her.

Eureka traipsed up another hill, devoid of anything but tall grasses. Her feet were sore. Her wings felt like they would fall off.

She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. She hadn't had anything to eat through this whole ordeal: hunger pained her regularly.

The wind was picking up, it rippled the sea of grass around her, and she was reminded inadvertently of the Earth, and, naturally Renton.

_I miss you, Renton. Please wait for me._

The problem was, she didn't even know if the Gekko was in Warsaw anymore. When that woman, Annika, had told them about it being here, she had been talking about where they were several days ago. Now, who knew? Eureka remembered they never used to stay in one place for more than a week at a time.

A strange thought occurred to her. Maybe the lifestyle she had led for all of her life, that of going around from place to place, was what made her... apprehensive about Renton's idea of settling down somewhere. She didn't know what it was, but she thought she would just feel better on a ship.

Her hair was plastered against her face; she was sweating, and she couldn't find her lucky hair clip. Or, at least, Renton had told her it was lucky. So it was probably true.

This hill was steeper than most. The road wound itself around this clump of hills, several miles out. Eureka had hoped that, by cutting through the hills, instead of following the road around them, she could save time and energy.

Panting, Eureka felt she now had doubts about the energy efficiency of shortcuts.

She limped; her bare feet had gotten cut on a piece of glass littered on the road. Fortunately, it was just a shallow wound, and hadn't stabbed her, only skinned. But still, it hurt.

She wondered if Renton had been having as hard a time at getting back as she had.

Of course, she had no doubt that he was probably already at the Gekko. He was that kind of person. Not only that, but if he had that Annika with him, then he probably had had some way of contacting the Warsaw military. And, while not agreeing with their methods, and what they stood for, Eureka had to admit the military would be useful in this situation.

Actually, come to think of it, Eureka didn't know if that woman was alright or not. She hoped she was fine. They had already saved her once. She could easily imagine Renton saving her.

Yet, for some reason, the idea of the whole scenario, of Renton saving Annika, and then the two of them being alone together for who knew how long, made Eureka feel something. Something she couldn't quite place. It was almost like anger, and almost like the sick feeling when she had thought she was losing Nirvash. But... what was it?

_I'll ask Gidget about it. Or maybe Mischa._

As she reached the crest of the hill, Eureka, her breath caught, found herself looking at a familiar sight.

The Gekko, in all it's swift and stylish splendor, glistening green and gold, lay just down the road.

Eureka laughed, and she felt, for some reason, tears come to her eyes.

_They're still here!_

The Gekko hadn't left without her. Renton hadn't left. He had waited for her.

Grinning from ear to ear, Eureka bounded down the other side of the hill as fast as she thought safe.

…....................................

Dominic looked up. It was probably going to rain soon. Great.

He maneuvered his motorbike around a branch that had gotten stuck in the middle of the road. Why was a branch there? There were no trees in the hills he was driving through.

Said hills, golden brown with waving grass, were somber, and dour today. They rippled with the wind, but it was whispers, and not music, that they emitted.

Dominic sighed. What had gotten him so down today? Maybe it was the weather.

_Or maybe, the fact that everything you know is wrong._

He scoffed to himself. It was true, meeting that Other Renton, Rentin, whatever (to be honest, the only reason he had suggested it was because that was how he thought the name was spelled the first time he met him), had been weird. In fact, it might even have been more than weird.. And, from what Dominic had seen in his lifetime, that was saying something. Everything seemed to be chock-full of weird these days.

They had all gone down, after deciding they were going to help the Other Renton and Eureka. But they hadn't talked to the two; the pair had already fallen asleep on the lobby's couch (and just how could they do that, by the way? Those things were really uncomfortable). So, the next day, everyone had attended a meet-and-greet in the Gekko's briefing room.

It had been awkward, to say the least. Meeting people who... were someone else you knew, but really weren't, was an odd experience. Dominic didn't really know how to describe it.

But, they had all gotten through it somehow. And the pair even seemed to hit it off with several members of the crew, including Anemone.

_Anemone..._

What was she doing? She was talking to them like... like they were old friends, or something. It was weird. Just another one of her moods? Dominic didn't know. A large part of their relationship was him waiting to see what would happen next; how she would react to something.

They were keeping Rentin and Eurecka in the old Eureka's room, for now. Just, in Dominic's opinion, to add to the level of awkwardness.

His bike ate up the pavement, and small drops of moisture gathered at the edge of his goggles. The wind was really strong out here. He wondered why. It really wasn't the time of year for it.

He sighed a little bit. Everything was just weird.

In fact, that was why he was out here. He just needed some time to clear his head. He had told Woz where he was going, although he hadn't told Anemone. He felt guilty about that. But she would have wanted to come with him, and he just wanted to be alone for a little bit.

The hills around him ended; up ahead, lay the Gekko, still in the middle of the road next to the hotel. Well, at least they hadn't left without him.

Suddenly, a girl ran into the middle of the street. Right in front of him.

Dominic tried to curve out of the way, slow down, something, but it wasn't enough.

He clipped the girl with the sidecar of his bike. He heard her cry out; fall.

The bike was going out of control. He had messed too much with it's path, and now it was kicking back. Yelling, he tried to slam on his breaks, but that only made it worse. It flipped onto it's side, and Dominic felt himself thrown onto the pavement.

He rolled several feet, the road not offering any mercy. He already knew something was broken. It might have been his leg. He couldn't tell. He couldn't tell anything.

When he finally stopped rolling, he just lay there. For a moment, he didn't feel anything. Just numb, all over.

Then the pain hit.

He coughed, his lungs suddenly on fire. He couldn't get enough air; it hurt to breathe.. He rolled over onto his side, coughing and groaning. Everything hurt. Terrible, throbbing pain. He knew his spine and nervous system were alright, at least: so long as he could feel pain everywhere. But that was small comfort.

He looked back up the road. The girl he had hit lay there, not moving. Maybe she had hit her head when she fell.

Wait, did she look like Eureka?

_Oh god._

It couldn't be. What was she doing out here, running into the middle of the road?

And if it was, where was Renton? Weren't they supposed to be stuck together at the hip, or something?

He had another bought of coughing. His spittle was dark with blood. That was just great.

Groaning, he struggled up. He had to tell if this really was Eureka, and if she was alright.

He stumbled over to where the girl lay. There were large, green growths that sprouted from her back. Like wings. That was odd.

She was on her side. Bending down, he turned her over. Her pale face struck him as incredibly similar to Anemone's. She looked like, when not covered in dirt, and scraped up, she would be beautiful. She wasn't breathing.

_Oh god._

Dominic groaned. Something on the inside was throbbing. He might have internal bleeding. He knew he needed to get to medical treatment as quickly as possible.

_The girl, you idiot!_

Right. There was an unconscious girl, lying on the ground in front of him. At least, he hoped she was unconscious. Should he do CPR? Wait, she was Coralian. Did CPR work on Coralians? He had never asked Anemone. Or wait, Anemone wouldn't know, because she was an artificial Coralian. Right?

Dominic coughed, and shook his head.

_Focus._

He tried to clear his mind, get rid of all the unnecessary thoughts. He would start with CPR. He knew how to do that. Basic military training.

He bent over the pale, limp body. He placed his ear over her mouth. Definitely not breathing. Dominic swallowed, and found it hurt.

Alright, breathe into the mouth, then administer the compressions.

That was what his military instructor had said. Two breaths, then thirty compressions. Center of the chest. Right in between the nipples.

Dominic breathed into Eureka's mouth twice, each time making sure her chest rose. Then, he placed his hands in the center of her chest, and pumped.

_One.  
_

_Two.  
_

_Three..._

Thirty pumps. It didn't work. Eureka still wasn't breathing.

_Do it again._

He did. Two breaths. Thirty compressions. That was for right for an adult. Wait, did Eureka count as an adult?

_No time for second thoughts._

And, in the middle of the second round, Eureka coughed. She sputtered, bouncing back to life. Then, she turned around over the ground and retched.

"You're alive!" Dominic yelled.

She looked at him, blearily. Gradually, he could see her focus.

"I am?" she asked.

"I hope so," Dominic grinned. She was alive.

"What happened?" Eureka wondered, looking around.

"I'm so sorry," Dominic said. "I hit you with my bike. You ran into the middle of the road."

"I hurt. All over," Eureka said.

Dominic smiled, and then coughed some more.

"Yeah," he said. "I feel the same way."

Eureka looked at him.

"Do... have we met?" she asked.

"Well, I think you've seen me before. We never actually met. [Stupid t.v. show writers. Please remove this –0ranos] I'm Dominic."

"Dominic?" Eureka repeated. Then, she brightened.

"Oh!" she exclaimed weakly. She looked like she couldn't focus very well. Her eyes kept randomly wandering around, as if she was following a fly. "Renton and I wanted to meet you. You and Anemone.."

"Really?" Dominic said, a little taken aback. He hadn't thought that the two would think about them much.

Then, something occurred to Dominic.

"Where's Renton?" he asked.

Eureka's face clouded.

"I'm trying to find him," she said. She didn't say anything else.

"Well..." Dominic said, standing up. "I think we should get you to the Gekko."

"The Gekko!" Eureka said, looking up. She looked past Dominic at the ship. "That's right!"

She tried to get up, but couldn't, at least, not enough for walking. Before she collapsed, Dominic got under her arm, and held her up. Her weight was almost enough to make him collapse, at least in his weakened state. But he persevered. Their goal was easily within sight. They could make it.

"Thank-you," Eureka muttered, struggling to hold her ground.

"It's O.K," Dominic said. "Let's just try to walk over there."

Eureka nodded.

They took several steps forward. Working in tandem, they did pretty well. They didn't collapse, or fall down, at any rate, and that was something. They didn't talk, instead focusing on the task at hand.

As they drew nearer to the Gekko, Dominic could feel a raindrop or two. That wasn't good. They had to get inside now. When it rained in Warsaw, it rained.

But, a couple steps from the ramp, someone stepped around from under it. It was Rentin, looking like he was just getting the last of Stoner's things from the suite. He saw the two injured people approach him.

"What the-" he said, and mindlessly dropped the bag he was carrying. He looked at Dominic.

"Dominic? What the hell happened? Who's tha-"

He saw who it looked like. And, at that moment, so did Eureka.

He heard a gasp from her lips, that ended up more like a sob. She stumbled forward out from Dominic's support, and buried herself in Rentin's surprised arms. She brought him into an... incredibly passionate kiss.

"Renton!" she cried.

And then, from under the ramp, came a hurtling ball of blue and white. With a yell, the Other Eureka tackled her doppelganger, throwing her out of Rentin's arms.

Dominic caught Eureka just before she hit the ground. There was a strange look on the winged girl's face, almost comical in it's confusion and surprise.

"Renton? What-" she asked weakly.

Clutching Rentin as if for dear life, Eurecka glared at the other girl.

"It's _my_ Renton, not yours," she said.

"What? What's going on?" Eureka cried, completely unsure of what was happening, tears coming to her eyes.

Dominic knew exactly the word for this situation.

"Crap."

.........................................

Alright. With the oncoming onslaught of stuff that's going to start happening, now that school is over, I'm not sure what's going to happen. I'm going to try to keep going, and finish this, but I'm not sure how fast I'll be able to do it. At any rate, the updates definitely won't be as fast. So, just a warning.

Question for next week: Are you ready to rumble?


	9. Come Together

It was dark in the medical room. The only light came from a small window, and the glow thrown off by medical equipment. There were several rhythmic beeps let off from around the room, again by machines. The curtains normally used as privacy for patients were gone, replaced by a large glass wall.

Holland stepped quietly in. There wasn't much room in here today. Two beds filled. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any more.

He looked through the glass at Eureka. She was breathing regularly now.

_Thank god._

Words could not describe how Holland felt as he looked through the glass - at the girl he promised to protect. Perhaps it could best be described as a mixture; relief, and fear, happiness and sadness all boiled into one. But that didn't begin to cover it.

"She's still not out of the woods yet," Mischa said from behind him. "I've stabilized her, yes. But the recovery is still up to her."

"Why's the glass up?" Holland asked her quietly, not taking his eyes off the pale girl on the bed.. "We never use that."

Mischa shrugged.

"I don't know about those wings. I haven't tested them. I don't know anything about them. So, I don't trust the crew to come into contact with them."

Holland raised an eyebrow.

"Is that your professional opinion?"

He heard the ship's medic walk back to her equipment, and fiddle with something.

"No," she finally said. "No, as far as I can tell, without testing, they shouldn't be a danger to the crew. But that doesn't mean I have to like them. At least, not yet."

Holland was silent. For a moment, his gazed drifted over Dominic. He was bandaged extensively – well, they both were, actually. But he had had the internal bleeding. That was nasty stuff. He had only just gotten out of surgery. Put to sleep. Holland felt for him.

But really, he only had eyes for Eureka.

She looked frail. Weak. Like a cloud blown about by the wind. She was covered with dirt, and in some places, blood. She was bruised, and looked worn. She had had pieces of glass all over her feet, almost too small to be noticed.

And yet, she still was the picture of peace. For some reason, the strange, alienlike wings added to her appearance, in a way Holland could not place.

Interrupting his thoughts, Mischa opened a sealed door in the glass wall that had been set up in the middle of the room. She stepped inside, a mask around her mouth, and then quickly shut it.

The woman moved quickly between her patients. She touched Eureka on her forehead, with an instrument Holland didn't recognize, and took the pale girl's blood pressure. Then, she moved to Dominic, and checked his breathing, along with some other sort of test on his leg.

When she came out, Holland had a question for her.

"So, did you tell me what the extent of her injuries are?" he whispered.

"I don't see why you're whispering," Mischa answered from behind the mask, a bit laconically. "The glass is soundproof. And no, I never gave you a complete bill of Eureka's injuries. And, until we know what happened to Renton, I don't really want to."

"Why's that?" Holland asked.

"_Because,_" Mischa said, taking the mask off. "We don't know the whole story. I _hope _I know all of her injuries. But I'm not betting on it. Besides, there may be mental problems that we won't know about until she wakes up."

"Mental problems?" Holland asked, alarmed. "Like what?"

Mischa shrugged. "How should I know? I've known Eureka for a long time. You know that. And, you also know, that she can still be mentally or emotionally fragile at times. What happened to her, and how did it affect her? Like I said, I couldn't possibly guess until she wakes up."

Holland was silent for a moment. He looked at the clock. Talho should have been here by now.

"Well," he said, turning back to the glass wall. "Could you at least tell me what you _do_ know?"

"I suppose," Mischa admitted.

"And?"

"Well, first of all, she had a mild concussion. Although, from the mark on her head, I'd say that happened only fairly recently. It was probably the reason she was unconscious when you brought her to me. She twisted her ankle; that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Somewhere along the line, I'm certain she inhaled a lot of smoke. And I mean a lot. I'm surprised she's still breathing as well as she is."

She stopped, pondering the winged girl for a moment.

"Of course..." she muttered, more to herself than Holland, "she always _did_ have an excellent rate of healing. That probably has something to do with it."

"What else?" Holland asked.

"Oh, numerous scrapes, bruises, and cuts. None of which are too serious. Although several are infected, I checked them out, and none should be of any danger now that she's back with us. She's edging a bit on the malnourished side of the bar, but I think she should be all right after a couple of good meals."

She looked into the glass.

"Other than that, though, I couldn't possibly tell you. Not without more in-depth tests."

"And Dominic?"

"He should be fine, now that I've operated. We nearly ran out of blood packets, but I managed to fix the internal bleeding."

Holland nodded.

"Good. You did amazing today, Mischa. Really. If Eureka had finally arrived back... and something happened to her, I don't know if I could-"

Mischa gave him a surprised look, then rolled her eyes.

"Don't flatter me. It's not becoming for you."

"What am I _supposed_ to do?" Holland asked. "You saved two people's lives. Do you want me to criticize you?"

"Then, at least, I'll know you've gone back to your normal self," Mischa muttered, although, Holland noticed she looked a bit more pleased with herself. She turned to leave the room.

"I have to go get some more supplies. And some coffee. I'll be back. You can stay, or leave. They should be fine without supervision for a moment, but I'm going to leave Talho here just in case."

She looked at the clock.

"Although... she should be here by-"

The door opened. There was the sound of loud voices, and complaining. Holland could just see the mash of bodies be pushed back, and in swept Talho.

"Sorry, Mischa," she said. "I was delayed, trying to convince everyone not to run in here. They_ really _want to see Eureka, and Anemone looks just about ready to kill somebody."

"Well," Mischa said,"I hope you told them no visitors until tomorrow, at the least. I'll only be gone for a minute. Watch them for me. If anything happens, anything at all, alert me."

She left, and the door closed behind her.

There was silence for a moment, and Holland heard Talho walk up next to him. She leaned on his shoulder for a moment, and the two watched Eureka in silence.

"So, she's really back, huh?" Talho asked. The comment had a sort of finality to it.

Holland nodded silently.

"Yeah," he said. "Kind of weird, though, isn't it? Two pairs of Renton and Eurekas show up at the same time. I wonder how that happened."

"Hm."

"How's the baby?" Holland asked.

Talho shrugged.

"He's fine. Playing with Hilda, although she wanted to be here as much as everyone else. But she owed me, so..."

They lapsed into silence.

There was a hair or string, Holland couldn't tell, hovering above Eureka's mouth. Every time she would breathe out, it would float gently upwards. Then, when she inhaled, it settled lightly on her lips. When it went up, it caught what little light there was, and glimmered brightly.

"You know what's ironic about all this?" Holland asked.

"What?" Talho muttered, not taking her eyes off of Eureka.

"The first time she comes ho-" Holland started to say, but then stopped. He glanced at Talho to see if she had caught the slip, but she was still fixed on the glass.

"Back. The first time she comes back, and, not only is Renton missing, but we get her, and someone else, in medical."

"So, what you're saying is, it didn't all play out exactly how you expected it to happen?" Talho asked.

Holland shrugged.

"Well, yeah."

"What did you think would happen?"

He thought about it.

"I don't know. I mean, I didn't really expect they would be back at all."

"But what if it did?" Talho asked, leaning into him a little more.

Holland put an arm around her.

"I guess I thought they would be... just waiting for us. We'd land the Gekko, somewhere, and we'd spot them on a hill, down below. Waving at us. They'd probably already have the kids with them. We'd all rush out the ramp, and tackle them. Everyone would laugh.... and then, then things would go back to normal."

"Back to normal?" Talho asked. "You mean, how they were before."

"Yeah."

"But how could it be back to how it was? Things are different now. We're different. They're probably different. A year has gone by since we last knew each other."

"You know what I mean, though."

She sighed.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

Silence.

"I wish that, too," she said. "But, she's_ back_. Renton probably isn't far behind. I'd bet anything on it. And that's what counts."

Holland nodded.

"Yeah, you're right," he admitted. "They're back. We didn't even expect that much."

"What are we going to do now?" Talho asked, after a while.

Holland thought about it.

"I don't know. You mean about the other Renton and Eureka, right?"

Talho shrugged.

"That, and other stuff. Do their kids know they're back? Does anyone else know? If they don't, should we tell them?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Holland grumbled. "We might have to play this to our political advantage. I wonder how Renton feels about all this?"

"He probably doesn't like it. And If he doesn't, he isn't going to. I just hope Eureka is conscious before he gets here."

"Yeah..."

Holland put his hand behind his head.

"Jeez. Why do things like this have to be so..._ complicated?_"

"Because you're the kind of guy who's good in these situations," Talho said. "You might have been an idiot sometimes, but you always managed to work everything out in the end. You still do."

"This could set us back months, though. I mean, we just finished earning street cred with the Prime Minister of Falsond. We had a meeting-"

"You don't sound as enthusiastic about all this as you did when we decided we'd _help_ the other two, Holland," Talho said, a little quietly, if not dangerously.

Holland made sure to pick his next words carefully.

"I didn't... _don't_ have any doubts that we're doing the right thing. We need to help these kids. But that doesn't mean that I have to ignore the consequences."

Talho looked at him for a little bit, silently, then shook her head.

"Idiot."

Holland was silent, his gaze back on the glass.

_So, why does she have those wings? I saw them before, but... And what happened down there on the Earth, anyway? Where's Renton? Is he alright?_

Who knew. Maybe he'd find out, maybe not. When Eureka woke up, he could ask her.

_But now..._

"Talho, you can hold the fort here, right?"

She gave him the look.

"O.K," Holland said. "Then I'm going to go see Charles. Have someone tell me when Mischa gets back, alright?"

Talho rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Holland."

But then she softened.

"Now, go say hello to your son."

Holland ducked out the door. For now, he wouldn't worry about all this stuff. Maybe there'd be a time to worry later. Actually, judging from past experiences, there_ probably _would be a time to worry later. But right now, wasn't that time.

However, Holland hadn't anticipated what lay outside the door. Pandemonium.

"Holland! Let us in!"

"Come on, why not?"

"This is so unfair!"

"Is Dominic alright?"

The crush of bodies pushed Holland back against the door, which, fortunately, was closed and – Holland hoped – not going to open. They had installed a lock since a year ago.

"Look, guys!" he yelled, but everyone kept talking.

"Is it really her?"

"Where's Renton?"

"GUYS!" Holland yelled.

Finally, everyone fell silent.

He looked at them all. Yep, pretty much everyone was here. It was kind of ironic really. Keeping all these people out would probably, in the end, prove to be easier than keeping Renton out.

"Look, you can all see Eureka – yeah, it's her – and Dominic. But not right now. Give them a break until tomorrow, alright? Besides, you guys all have jobs to do, anyway, right?"

There were some murmurs of acceptance.

"Good," Holland said. "Now go! Get to it!"

The crowd, reluctantly, grudgingly fell back to a more defensible position.

After they were all gone, except for Anemone, who stayed waiting by the door – at a safe distance, and Holland didn't think he could persuade her to leave, anyway – Holland left towards Hilda's room.

"Jeez," he muttered under his breath.

Two Eurekas and two Rentons.

_Well, should be interesting next couple of weeks, anyway._

…................................................................

It was cold that night. The clouds had cleared away, somehow, and the only evidence that there had been rain the day before was the soaked pavement.

No, no rain that night. There was a cool breeze blowing in from the north, and, when combined with the normal chill of the night, was enough for Holland to see his breath. Thinking of Eureka, he was reminded of another time in the cold, several years ago now.

He smiled.

Holland left the ramp down. This late at night, nobody would be trying to get into the Gekko, anyway. Not here, at least.

It was strange, really, how after a year, he didn't seem to have any enemies left. Of course, people tried to kill him from time to time. And there were still people that he hated, people he thought were absolute idiots and should never have gotten in any position of power. But no enemies. No covert S.O.F. Members who might try to sneak in and kill him and his family.

There were a few members of the original S.O.F. still hanging around. He knew that. But Holland had tabs on all of them, and none of them he knew were much interested in attacking him, anyway. Most were either very retired into civilian life, or teaching for one of the many despotic governments that were so willing to pay.

Holland shook his head. Maybe he would have eaten up an offer like that, only a little while ago. But nowadays...

He shrugged, and readjusted his grip on the ref board under his arm.

It would probably be best not to get too far away from the Gekko. Talho would probably kill him if he caught a cold.

The baby had fallen asleep, eventually. Talho had already been in bed. But Holland found, like a lot of nights, lately, that he couldn't sleep.

The pavement was still a little slippery as Holland walked along the edge of the highway, away from the Gekko. He passed by the hotel, its neon sign still shining for all the world to see. They had finally gotten all of Stoner's stuff packed.

Holland had been glad to hear that Stoner was coming with them. Of course, he hadn't expected any different, but still, it felt right. That was an odd phrase Holland found himself using more often these past few days. It felt right.

_Is that how I do it now? Through feeling?_

Heck, if Dewey saw him now...

But, now that he thought about it, he had always just felt his way along. That was what separated him from Dewey. When his brother had done something, it had always been some ulterior motive. Holland didn't need that. He had a short criteria for doing something. A: it would help them all live. B: it would help Eureka, and later Renton. C: it would hurt Dewey. D: it was the right thing to do.

That was pretty much his whole life. Did that make him a simple person? Maybe so. But Holland didn't care.

_I'm not trying to win a contest. I never have been. I don't put up appearances. That was always Dewey's area._

Holland shivered. It was getting late now.

_Maybe I should head back._

But not yet. There was a specific place Holland wanted to go tonight, that Matthieu had actually discovered their first night here. Great waves, apparently. And Holland could really use some lifting.

He pounded the asphalt under his feet, the only sounds around him the crunching of gravel, the chirp of insects, and the low breath of the wind.

Holland crossed the street and started through the bush. He was walking up a fairly well-worn dirt path now, that led up the hill behind the hotel.

What time was it, anyway? Judging by the ring, probably around three o'clock. After a year, Holland found that you could tell the time with that great green arch, spanning across the sky. Useful, that.

The terrain around was lit in shades of blue, but also with glowing green from the ring above. It felt like it had always been that way. The trees around creaked almost silently, the wind fluttering through the leaves.

Breathing a bit heavier, he arrived at a ledge. This part of the hill jutted out apart from the rest, and it was devoid of trees. It was a great spot to watch the moon.

The great, heart-carved orb was bright in the sky. With no clouds to cover it, Renton and Eureka's names were clearly visible.

Holland liked to see those names. It made him feel... proud? Stronger? He didn't know. He just liked seeing it.

He read the waves. Just like Matthieu had said, there were excellent Trapar around here. It would be nice to just lift in the moonlight, nobody around. Lord only knew he didn't have any time to himself anymore..

Of course, that was really his own fault.

A noise off to his right triggered Holland's reflexes, and he found himself crouching down in the grass.

"Wow, you are really jumpy," Anemone said.

Holland scowled. He didn't like people sneaking up on him.

"Hey," he said, smoothing his face over to look calm, and aloof. It was something he was very good at.

Anemone nodded, but didn't say anything else. She turned away from him, looking at the moon. Her face was... closed. Actually, Holland was pretty sure that was its default position. Over the past year, Holland found Anemone had two settings: depressingly somber and freakishly loud. It looked like right now was somber time.

He would've turned back and just watched the moon some more, but he was attaining a dawning awareness of social graces. Not to mention he wouldn't have thought she would be up here. If anything he thought she would have been back in the Gekko, watch-dogging Dominic.

"So... Why are you up here?" he asked nonchalantly, hands in his pockets.

It was a while before Anemone answered. She just stood there, gazing at the moon. It was strange how, even when standing still, she gave off this strange sort of... _energy. _Holland didn't know how to describe it.

"Thinking," she finally said. She left it at that. The edges of her mouth were slightly strained, and it looked like she had been biting her lip.

"Hm," Holland said. He could respect it if she didn't want to tell him.

The two of them watched the moon together for a while. A flock of midnight skyfish fluttered by off to the west, the light from the ring glancing off their polished hide.

"Isn't it funny?" Anemone asked.

"What?"

"I said, isn't it funny?" she said again, turning to Holland. She gave him a sad smile.

"Uh..." Holland didn't really know. Most conversations with Anemone were like this – he didn't really know what was going on half the time.

_Should probably say something, though..._

"Uh... what's funny?"

"I've hurt lots of people. Did you know that?" Anemone said quietly. Holland blinked.

"Back when Dominic and I were part of Dewey's military. And it wasn't that I didn't know what I was doing. I knew. Every time, I knew I was hurting somebody, or even killing them."

_Where did this come from?_

Holland didn't say anything. His head was spinning a bit from the suddenness of this whole speech. He could relate – oh yes, he could relate – but it didn't seem to be the right time to talk.

"I hurt Dominic, too... When he was just trying to help me. I... don't know why I did those things, half of the time. They just happened. I couldn't stop myself."

Her voice was trembling. Holland was surprised. In all the time he had known her, she'd never come close to anything resembling a confession. In fact, her ability to be so open about some things, while closed about others, was on of the things Holland liked about her.

"But, those people – that I've hurt," Anemone continued. "They never affected me. It was like they didn't exist. So why..."

She paused, and Holland could see she was close to tears.

"So why does it hurt so much when Dominic gets badly hurt _now?_ How come I feel it so much?"

The grass around them was long. Holland thought he heard some sort of creature or insect crawling around in it, the soft rustling a distraction to the beautiful sight in front of them.

He didn't answer Anemone. He didn't know if he could. He was still... getting to know the both of them. Holland didn't know if the things that he could say would help.

Without another word, Anemone turned to leave.

_Aw, what the heck? _

"Maturing."

She stopped, and turned to face him.

"What?" she asked.

Holland shrugged.

"Maybe you're maturing. Growing up."

She was quiet, and turned away from him.

"Yeah. Maybe," she said in a small voice.

And she walked away through the grass. When she finally passed out of sight through the trees, Holland breathed a little easier.

_Jeez, she's quiet. Would've made a good member of the S.O.F._

Although, really, who was he to judge that? He'd gotten pretty bad marks on the S.O.F. training test, and only Dewey's influence had gotten him in. He really hated his older brother for that. So he got better. A lot better. He had worked hard every day to become better. A better soldier. A perfect soldier.

"Hmph."

Holland jumped off the cliff.

The wind grew to a roar. It was cold. The falling sensation, always a bi uncomfortable, no matter how many times you did it, was coupled with the sharp cuts from the frigid air. All the same, Holland let out a happy yell. This was where he belonged. Forget the stupid politics.

The cliff face rushed past him, and the ground grew closer. He should have enough time, though. Just a couple more seconds.

Holland swung the board out under him, triggering the Trapar input. He didn't just stop falling though. That was something rookies did. No, he kept going, plunging down, down towards the rocks at the base of the cliff.

Pulling up was all in the stomach muscles. Clenching, pulling in the chest at the right moment, along with a flick of the ankles.

Holland pulled up at the last moment, reaching down and scraping his hand on the rocks below him. He yelled again as the exhilaration of the near-miss flowed through him. He felt high, literally. The icy wind nearly bowling him over, the adrenaline pumping through his veins, the ring, and moonlight shining down. It felt good to be alive.

He gained some height, then pushed through a series of flips and tricks that could only be done at night. Trapar flow was different in the day. Sometimes, nighttime tournaments drew huge crowds. Holland didn't really know about that, though. He'd only ever been to one tournament, and that one was during the day. He'd never gone back.

And why bother with the Leagues, and rules? He just liked to lift. The rough bobbing of his board through the air, and the insane stunts that would have induced vertigo in anyone else – those things were natural to him.

Holland felt something behind him, and turned to look.

A sky fish, enormous and tinted green, suddenly veered at him from behind. It's single eye showed surprise at having a small, wingless creature in it's path. It was too big to maneuver out of the way in time.

Just before the two collided, Holland twisted out of the way, flipping up and over the giant creature, and touching it's fin.

He laughed, wild and free, watching the great beast lumber on into the night. A flock of smaller skyfish followed in its wake, zooming and flitting around him.

Holland just wished it could be that way all the time.

…...............................................................

She looked so much like Eureka. _His _Eureka, before... everything happened. It was frightening, really. Other than the... wings, or whatever they were, and that dot on her forehead. They were identical.

Rentin couldn't stop staring at her. Asleep, her gentle breathing as steady as the waves against the shore.

Of course, she wasn't his Eureka. He knew that. She was some sort of... copy. She apparently wasn't hurt by the light, either. Stoner had told him. But, all the same, looking at her, that suddenly didn't matter.

_Eureka..._

…..............................................................

Holland stumbled into the dining room, covering his eyes. It was very bright. Too bright. He wondered what had been fixed for breakfast.

He had finally gotten up. He didn't know what time it was. But it had to be past nine, at least. Hopefully.

The disoriented, tired man stalked over to the coffee pot.

_Please let there be coffee. Please let there be coffee._

There was. Giving thanks to whoever was in charge of stuff, Holland grabbed his mug from the cabinet next door, and filled it to the brim.

Talho and Charles were still asleep. He hadn't had the heart to wake them up – Charles had not had a cooperative night, and Talho could use the rest. Come to think of it, Holland could too. God, he was tired.

He took a sip of the coffee. He couldn't even taste it. But at least he felt the effect almost immediately. His vision became less blurred, and he was able to stand up straight.

Then, Holland realized nobody else was in the room.

"The heck?" he muttered.

There should have been people in there, eating breakfast, or lounging about. When they weren't flying, the Gekko got off to a slow start.

"Where is everybody?"

Holland scratched his chin. Seriously, where was everyone? They couldn't all be asleep...

The clock caught his attention.

_11:40. Everyone should be having breakfast right now._

But they weren't there.

The coffee kicked in, and memories were dragged to the forefront of Holland's mind. Eureka, in the hospital. Micha saying visitors would be allowed the next day.

"Oh."

Groaning, Holland pushed off from the counter, and maneuvered himself into the hallway. He should probably go check on how things were going down there. Mischa couldn't hold the fort by herself. And besides, Holland was curious himself to see how the two patients were doing.

The hallway outside the medical room was, as expected, crowded. Holland saw at least half of everybody outside.

Gidget spotted him approaching. She ran over to him.

"Holland," she complained, "Mischa won't let us all in. She says we have to take 'numbers'. Can you please let us in? _Please?_"

Holland put up his hands.

"Look, what Mischa says, goes. You guys know that."

Gidget pouted, and marched off.

Holland stood by Hilda, who gave him a silent hello.

"So... what's going on? You guys have numbers?" Holland asked.

Hilda nodded. She held up a small piece of paper.

"Yeah," she said. "We all picked 'random' numbers. I'm seven."

"Huh," Holland muttered. Would he have to pick a number? The idea didn't exactly appeal to him.

"It's kind of ridiculous, considering there's only 14 of us."

"She doesn't want everybody rushing in," Hap put in from next to them. "Bad for the patient."

"Yeah, but still."

Holland walked up to the door, and knocked.

"Mischa?"

The medic opened it, but only just a crack.

"What, Holland?"

"Can I come in?"

Mischa rolled her eyes.

"Can't you at least _pretend_ to be a part of the system?"

She saw his face.

"Alright," she said, opening the door. "_Fine._"

Holland nodded, and walked in.

It was quieter, and darker in the medical room, as usual. Everybody already in there, Rentin, Eurecka, Stoner, Anemone, and Matthieu, was subdued, standing next to either Eureka's bed or Dominic's. The glass had come down.

"What?" Holland heard Hilda complain. "Holland just gets to _go in?_ How fair is that?"

"Sorry, but you already have your number," Mischa said, and closed the door.

Everyone looked up when Holland came in. He hated that, sometimes.

He nodded back, and everyone turned back to the main attraction. Holland walked over to where Stoner and Matthieu were standing.

"Morning," Matthieu whispered. He greeted Holland with a traditional smile, but was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Hi," Stoner said distractedly, from behind his camera. He was busy trying to set up a shot with both Eurekas in it.

Holland didn't say anything. He didn't need to.

Dominic had woken up, and was conversing quietly with Anemone, holding her head in his hands. Holland couldn't make out their conversation.

Rentin and Eurecka were standing on the right side of Eureka's bed, their backs to the door. Holland was interested to see their reaction to all this.

It was interesting to see. Rentin just stood there, arms limp at his side. He was completely... entranced? Paralyzed? He wasn't moving, at any rate.

Eurecka though, was fascinating. She was clearly curious about the girl on the bed, who looked so much like her. She'd probably gotten already that, where she was, certain people looked like others she had already met. But, this must've been the first time it hit home about the fact that everyone had doubles.

And yet, what interested Holland was that this curiosity was tinged with unsettledness. Of course, he would expect that. He had been unsettled when first seeing Rentin and Eurecka. But that didn't seem to be as much what she was unsettled about. She kept casting worried, furtive glances towards Rentins face, which was firmly fixed on Eureka.

Holland wanted to ask Stoner what he thought about that.. But before he could, Mischa walked up to him.

"Eureka's probably going to wake up in a couple hours, if my guess is anywhere close. Dominic should be out by the end of tomorrow."

"And Eureka? When is she going to be out?" Holland asked quietly.

Mischa shrugged.

"I don't know for sure. Like I said before. We'll just have to see what happens when she wakes up."

Holland nodded.

"Alright."

Anemone laughed about something Dominic said. Holland watched the two of them, talking to each other. It was funny, but they just looked like such opposites. Anemone, with her bright, colorful hair and outfits. Always laughing, making comments. Dominic, quiet most of the time, but with strong opinions, always waiting for everyone else to say what they wanted to say.

_But, what did _you _think of Talho, when she was Dewey's girlfriend?_

Alright, maybe that wasn't a good example. He had thought Talho was one of the most gorgeous human beings he had ever seen, the first night he had seen her, at the party. He had found himself twice that night accidentally spilling things because he was paying more attention to her than he should have been.

"So, just to make sure," he said to Mischa, "there won't be any adverse side-effects of all this?"

She looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Side-effects? He was just lacerated on the inside. Of course there'll be side-effects. But..." she looked over at the young couple. "Only in the category of him resting more often then not, avoiding strenuous activity, and taking a medicine cabinet's worth of pills and treatments every week. After about a month's worth of that, he should be just fine."

Holland sighed.

"Alright, so long as he's down with Jobs, then, he should be fine. Jobs'll make sure he doesn't do anything too..."

"Fatiguing," Stoner muttered, adjusting his camera for the best light.

"Right," Holland said. "Fatiguing."

Mischa nodded.

"I think that should be fine. So long as he isn't getting in any firefights."

Matthieu looked over.

"Well, not much chance of that," he said. "We're in friendly territory."

"Not for much longer," Holland told him. "I'm not quite sure where we're going after Tresor, but it could be anywhere."

Matthieu looked dejected.

"Figures..." he said. "And I was just getting used to _not _getting shot at for a change..."

"Matthieu, your time's up," Mischa said. "Get out, and tell Hap it's his turn."

Matthieu sighed, dejected.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, and walked out.

Holland turned to Stoner.

"So?" he asked.

Stoner didn't look at him; he kept working his camera.

"So what?"

"So..." Holland tried to find the right words, "what do you think about all this?"

Now Stoner did turn to him.

"I think things are going to be very complicated. For all of us. There's something going on here. I'm sure of it. This isn't the end of it, Holland."

"The end of what?"

Stoner shrugged.

"How should I know? All I'm saying is, intrinsically, all this stuff that's happening, can't be isolated incidents. There's a connection, between our Eureka coming back, Renton not being here, and the Other Renton and Eureka."

Holland put a hand on his chin.

"I didn't think about it like that. Jeez, what are we going to tell the public?"

"Why tell them anything?" Stoner asked.

"Well, they're both pretty much worldwide celebrities," Holland said. "I doubt we can keep this quiet for very long. And, if it _does_ gets out, I want to have control over what _it_ is."

"I agree," Hap said, walking up from behind them. "This could easily get out of control. There might even be sensitive information that we don't _want_ out. I mean, I know Lublin would love to twist this. They'd probably come up with something about us setting up settlements on the Earth ahead of the treaty. And on top of all that, we've got Rentin and Eurecka to worry about, and that's something that absolutely _can not _be breached to the public. "

Holland nodded.

"Exactly," he said. "Here's what I want to happen. First: wait until Eureka wakes up, see what she has to say."

"Second," Hap put in, "see if Renton is around anywhere."

"Third," Stoner said, putting away his camera, "make an excuse to disappear from the public eye for a month or two."

"Yeah," Holland said, nodding. "And fourth, I want to talk to Tresor, about everything, including the fact that we have two Eurekas on our ship."

"I can have something in Ray=Out about us going for a trip to the Earth. It'll bug some of our political enemies, but shouldn't cause too much consternation," Stoner said.

"Like I said before," agreed Holland, "that's a good idea.."

"We're going to have to have an ally in all this. We can't keep up that sort of cover for long without help," Hap said, hand on his chin. "Big help. Do you think..."

He looked at Holland.

"Do you think we can count on Jurgens about all this?"

Holland thought about it.

"Crap. That would put us in a bad situation. I don't want to seem too friendly with Warsaw, or that we're using them as a crutch. I mean, if everything was quiet, sure, I could see us doing it. But it'd be difficult."

"That's what I thought," Hap nodded. "But about Jurgens _himself..._"

"We can trust him," Stoner put in. "If we can't, then we're in major trouble."

"He'd want to know, anyway," Holland thought out loud. "And I should probably tell him myself."

Hap still looked unconvinced.

"I don't know," he said slowly. "I guess we can trust Jurgens with something this big. Actually, I'm pretty sure we can. But those _kids_ of his? The ones that he trusts with _everything?_ That he says he's _reformed?_"

Holland shrugged.

"I've met them before," he said. "They're pretty good kids."

"Yeah," Hap scoffed. "Pretty good at acting, maybe. They were Dewey's kids! Come on!"

Holland realized everyone in the room was looking at them.

"Now isn't really the time to talk about it," he hissed to Hap. "_Later._"

Hap nodded discreetly.

Mischa came over to them.

"_Don't_ do that again," she said, a bit dangerously. "And Holland, your turn is pretty much up. You got to see them last night, anyway."

She looked over at Rentin and Eurecka, too.

"You two have had your turn now as well. If you could leave and get Ken-Goh and Hilda, that would be great," she said.

With one last glance at her look-alike, Eurecka nodded politely and started to leave. However, when she saw that Rentin wasn't with her, she turned around in surprise.

"Renton?" she asked.

Rentin didn't answer. He appeared very much lost in his own thoughts, staring at Eureka.

A look of confusion and worry spread over Eurecka's face.

"Renton?" she asked, going back and putting her hand on his arm.

Her touch apparently brought him back to reality, and Rentin turned to her, looking like he had come out of a dream.

"Wh-" he started, but Eurecka interrupted him.

"Mischa says we have to go," she said quietly.

Rentin looked up at the doctor.

"Oh, really?" he asked.

Mischa nodded.

"O.K, sorry," he said, still looking somewhat dazed, and followed Eurecka's pulling on his sleeve out the door.

When they had left, many glances were shared around the room. Nobody said anything.

"Alright," Mischa said into the silence. "That was... odd."

Holland looked at Hap and Stoner.

"We need to have a meeting. You," he gestured to Hap, and then to Stoner, "you, Ken-Goh, Hilda, and Talho, the briefing room. Five minutes."

They both nodded.

"You know, I've got to laugh at the people who advocate predestination," Stoner mused. "Nobody could possibly predict a series of events like these."

Holland shrugged.

"I'm out," he said, turning to Mischa. "Tell me if Eureka wakes up."

He nodded to Dominic.

"And you. Get better, alright?"

Dominic smiled; a rare event.

"Yes, sir."

Holland left the room. As he walked through the hallways toward his and Talho's room, he couldn't help but think about what Stoner had said earlier. About things getting more complicated. About everything being connected.

_Actually, come to think of it, a lot of the stuff was connected the last time around, too._

The Coralians, Eureka, the Earth, Renton, Adroc, Dewey. It had all been connected, in some way or another. Everything had affected the outcome of that series of events. Maybe it was that way here, too.

Of course, that still left one question.

_What's going to happen next?_

…...................................................

Renton laughed.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked.

Annika stuck out her tongue.

"What do you_ think_ I'm doing here? Finishing my escort mission, obviously."

Renton shook his head.

"But, you didn't have an-"

"_Shh,_" Annika said.. "Don't spoil the fun. Besides, if I just handed you off to someone else, I knew I'd feel really stupid about it."

"You don't have to-" Renton tried.

"Oh, be quiet and get in the ship," Annika said, gesturing to the small craft.

She had on a clean uniform, but Renton thought he noticed some new buttons on the collar.

Their voices echoed in the bases' hangar. There were enormous crafts of all size here, battleships and otherwise. It was carved around the main base, in the rock itself. The only light that shone onto the cold, hard floor was from giant artificial lamps.

"You'd best do as she says," Jurgens said, walking up from behind. "She's been trained not to take no for an answer."

Annika stepped into a salute.

"Chancellor, sir!"

Jurgens waved a hand.

"At ease, Captain."

"Yes, sir!" Annika said, having broken into a smile. She turned to Renton.

"He's right, you know," she said. "You're coming with me one way or the other."

"Go on," Jurgens said, proffering his hand. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

Renton shook the hand. The Chancellor had a... firm grip. Very firm. Renton flexed his hand afterwards to make sure it still worked.

"I'm sorry Maria couldn't see you off," Jurgens apologized. "She had to... take care of some things for me."

The clapping sound of shoes on stone echoed back to them, and Renton looked around The Chancellor's bulky frame to see what it was.

He was surprised. A young girl, certainly younger than himself, and dark skinned, was walking up to them.

"Ah, Kim," Jurgens smiled. "You're here; good."

Kim stopped several feet short of The Chancellor, and saluted.

"Father," she said stiffly.

Jurgens didn't seem to notice the tone, and gestured towards Renton, and the small craft.

"This is your special assignment for me. Co-escort Mr. Thurston here with the good Captain. I'm.... not sure you two have met."

His daughter raised a long, curved eyebrow.

"Captain..."

Annika walked over and offered a hand.

"Annika. Captain Annika Schwartz, at your service, Secretary Jurgens."

_Secretary?_

Renton was... surprised. How could this girl be in any position of power?

Kim shook, and gave a small, polite smile.

"You did a good thing out in the forest the other day, Captain. Odds were against you."

Annika shrugged.

"I don't pay attention to those, much."

"Yes, well," Kim continued, "I'm sure we'll get along fine."

She turned to Renton.

"And, at _your_ service, Mr. Thurston. It is... _interesting_ to finally meet you."

Renton shook her hand, too, but felt weird about it. There was something... off about the girl. He couldn't put his finger on it. Something uncanny.

Jurgens spotted his expression, though.

"Don't be so surprised, Renton," he said jovially. "She's one of the best administrators and tacticians I know. Not to mention the best-looking."

Kim turned embarrassedly to her father, and her smile was a bit more honest this time.

"Father..." she complained.

He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Just kidding, Kim. Don't worry. Your professional reputation is safe with me."

The Chancellor clapped his hands together.

"Well, now that you all know each other, I suggest you get underway. Now, as you all know, we haven't been able to contact Holland. Something about that communication system on the Gekko. Never was able to figure it out when we were up against it, and I certainly can't now. However, we have been able to... infer... that it's still in the area, a couple miles out."

He turned to Kim, and Annika, bowing to each.

"Kim, Captain. Keep this young man safe. He's one of the best people we have as an ally, and as a friend."

Renton was embarrassed.

"You know, this is all-"

Jurgens held up a finger, face stern.

"Nothing out of you. Be a good passenger, and get on the ship."

But then the cold exterior softened.

"And say hello to Holland for me. Remind him about our date this Thursday."

All Renton found he could do was nod.

"Alright," he said. "I'll do that."

"Good," Jurgens said, and waved them off. "Now get going."

Without another word, he turned around and marched back towards the entrance to the hangar.

After Kim had gotten into the transport, Annika leaned over to Renton.

"How do you do it?" she asked.

Renton turned to her, surprised.

"Do what?"

"I've never seen, or even heard of, The Chancellor being that... pleasant."

Renton shrugged.

"I don't know..." he said. "We... know each other, I guess."

Annika rolled her eyes.

"Right. Wait till Tom hears about this."

They both climbed up the ramp into the small craft.

Inside, it was dark, and cool. All the colors were subdued, and the seats were in rows along the edge. The small, port-hole-like windows were closed, but look like they could be opened.

Kim was standing near the door to the cockpit.

"Captain, I presume you know how to fly?" she asked, opening the door.

Annika nodded, grinning.

"You bet. This model has pretty good suspension, too. This'll be fun."

The two girls went into the front cockpit. Before the door closed, Annika stuck her head back out.

"Get comfy, Renton. It shouldn't be that long, but, considering we don't _really_ know where Holland is, get ready for anything."

Renton nodded.

"Alright."

With a mock salute, Annika disappeared back into the cockpit.

Renton found a seat in the middle, near one of the windows. The seats were small, but not all that uncomfortable. Judging from the papers in the pocket in front of him, this craft was normally used by diplomats.

And that was certainly what it was designed for. Renton remembered looking over some of his grandfather's blueprints for craft like these. The armor was paper-thin, but they were fast.

Fast and maneuverable. Somehow, that didn't seem like a good combination of traits to give to a craft Annika was piloting.

"This is your Captain speaking," she said over the ship's intercom. "We're looking at fairly good flight conditions today, with rough winds, which gives fairly good leeway for some... showing off."

_Uh-oh._

Renton didn't think he'd ever buckled a seat belt as fast before. It had been a long time since he'd gotten sick in the air, but also a long time since he'd _been_ in the air, not considering the frantic chase with the enemy KLF a... week ago? He didn't know if he was ready for 'showing off'.

As the ship slowly picked itself off the ground and steered itself for the tunnel leading to the surface, though, Renton couldn't help but feel his spirits lifted along with it. He was going back to the Gekko. He was going back to Holland and Talho, and the rest. He was going to find Eureka.

He was going home.

............................................................

Alright, so, not as much rumbling as I predicted last time. I decided to save that for later. With interest.

I have to ask you though, who, in your opinion, is more mature? movieRenton, or tvRenton?

I have an opinion on that myself, and since I am the dictator of this story, my opinion rules. However, I wanted to hear what you all thought.

Oh, and, if anyone knows the exact gender split of the five kids from the Ageha squad, please share.

Finally, would you guys like it if I turned the titles of chapters to be like the episodes of the series? As in, songs?

Until next time.


	10. I Wanna Be Sedated

"Hey, are you awake?"

Eureka tilted her head on the soft pillow towards Dominic's voice. She almost felt like that was all she could do. She just felt so..._ bad._

Dominic smiled. He lay sideways on his bed, propped up by an elbow.

Eureka attempted a smile back, but found she couldn't quite make it. Dominic's expression changed to concern.

She looked down at herself. She was in a hospital gown again. Why was she always in a hospital gown?

_I should just wear one all the time. Less work when something happens, and I end up here._

A sigh. She did seem to be in the medical bay more often than not, that was for certain.

For a moment it was quiet. Dominic looked like he was trying to think of something to say.

Eureka looked around at the room. It was the medical bay on the Gekko. She felt like she should have been happier about that, but somehow couldn't muster it. There was nobody else in the room, only the pulsing lights from the medical equipment.

It looked like it was early morning. She wondered where everyone was, what they were doing.

But no, that wasn't true. She didn't really wonder that. She didn't have the capacity too, at that moment. She could only think about one thing.

_What happened?_

She did remember. It was just... she didn't know if she believed what she had seen. There had been Renton... but another girl too. A girl like herself. Or... something.

_I don't know what I saw. I can't jump to conclusions._

There had to be an explanation.

"Uh, Eureka? You know, I wanted to apologize again for... running you over-"

"Dominic."

She looked at him. He could answer her questions, couldn't he?

"Yes?" He looked cautious. Or at least, Eureka thought he did. She couldn't be sure; they had only just met.

"Who was that?" She just let all the questions she had spill out. "What's happening? Where is everyone? How's Holland? Is Renton-"

Dominic held up his hands.

"Slow down. Please. What was the first question?"

Eureka tried to sit up, but it hurt, so she just lied back on the bed.

"In the rain, when we ran into.... Renton, and I thought I saw-"

Dominic shook his head.

"It's not what you expect. I can guarantee it. That other girl is Eurecka-"

"Eurecka? I don't understand."

Dominic rolled over onto his back, and looked up at the ceiling.

"They're from... some sort of other world," he said, not looking at her. "They only showed up a week before you did."

"Another world? Are you saying that..."

But then she shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry. I just don't understand."

"It's O.K," Dominic said, and gave her a small smile. "I'm only just getting used to the idea myself. And, in all honesty, I'm not that great at explaining. Stoner-"

"Stoner's here? Is everyone here? What about Maurice, Maeter, and Linck?"

Eureka's fist gripped the blankets that covered her. It only just hit her how much she wanted to see them all. Her family.

"Yeah," Dominic nodded. "Everybody's here. Well, I don't know about those kids. To tell the truth, I've never really met them. Whenever we've stopped by-"

"They aren't staying on the Gekko?"

Dominic shook his head.

"No. If they were, do you think Mischa would be able to keep them out?"

"No, I guess not," Eureka said.

"Actually, it's kind of odd, because normally, Stoner doesn't travel with us. You came at just the right time."

"Travel with 'us'?" Eureka asked. "You're part of the Gekko?"

Dominic started to say something, but then stopped. He put a hand behind his head.

"Yeah. Yeah, we are. Anemone and I. A bit unexpected, right?"

Eureka nodded.

"But that's great!" she said. "I'm glad that you both are. Somehow, even if it's unexpected, it feels... right."

Sure, it was a bit disconcerting, hearing Dominic talk like he knew everybody. And it was going to be strange getting used to the idea. But Eureka was happy that they were there. It really did feel right.

"But, yes, we've been part of the crew for about a year now," Dominic said. Then, he looked down. "I mean, we didn't really have anywhere else to go. We wanted to do something, to try and help... everything that's been going on. I mean, we were tempted to help Warsaw, but in the end, I don't think we could have gone through with that. We don't want to help any single government against the others-"

"What do you mean?" Eureka asked. She shifted her position on the bed. Her wings under her were just a tad uncomfortable. Not terribly so, but just a little bit.

"Well, I suppose you don't know, do you?" Dominic said to himself. Then, he looked up at Eureka.

"Incidentally, everyone wants to know where you two have been. In fact, where Renton is, as well."

Eureka's heart sank down to her stomach.

"He's... not here?"

"No..." Dominic said, raising an eyebrow. "_Should_ he be?"

"Well, I don't really know," Eureka looked away from Dominic. "We got separated."

"Where have you guys been?" Dominic asked. "What happened? How come you and Renton are s-"

Eureka did smile this time. It hurt, but she sat up a little bit more.

"Not so fast," she said.

Dominic stopped. He made a strangled noise that sounded somewhere between a chuckle and a cough.

"Are you alright?" Eureka asked. She hadn't thought about whether _he_ had gotten hurt. But, if he was in the room with her, he must've gotten hurt, hadn't he?

He nodded, and waved his hand.

"I'm fine," he said. Eureka was still unconvinced. Her own injuries were almost forgotten as she worried about the young man in the bed next to hers.

"Really. I'm fine. They said you're in worse shape than me, so I'm sure I can handle it," Dominic reassured.

"Where's Mischa?" Eureka asked. "Shouldn't she be watching us?"

"She had to step out for something," Dominic said. "I think Holland wanted her."

"Where is the Gekko? Or... where are _we?_ Are we still-"

"Yes. We're still grounded near Warsaw. We _were_ all set to leave, but then we met you, and that must have pushed us back a couple days. I mean, I don't really know what's going on now, since I've been stuck in here. Mischa says I still need to rest in here for a while longer."

"Then you should," Eureka said. "Mischa-"

"Knows what she's doing," Dominic finished.

Eureka nodded.

"I know. But I'm not going to be happy about it. Jobs and I were just on the verge of testing the new operating system, too."

"You work with Jobs?" Eureka asked, surprised. From what Renton had told her...

"I know what you probably have heard," Dominic said with a half-grimace. "And, yes, I _was_ really bad at... anything mechanical. But, then, when we had Axel Thurston on board, everything just... fell into place."

"Renton's grandfather was here?" Eureka asked. "When?"

"Almost a year ago now; it was right after all the fighting started-"

The door opened. Mischa walked in, talking to someone outside the door that Eureka could not see.

"Really? Well, I'm not sure, but I think there's something similar-"

But then she turned, and saw Eureka.

"Ah. You _are_ awake then," she said, under her breath.

Then she smiled.

"Good. How are you feeling?"

The doctor walked over, and checked a piece of paper on the table next to Eureka's bed.

Eureka smiled back. She had known Mischa for... so long, now. Seeing her walk into the room made Eureka feel so much more secure.

"I'm feeling better," she said. "It still hurts to sit up, though."

Mischa nodded.

"Well, that's to be expected."

She looked at Dominic.

"And you? How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Good," Mischa said. She pulled up a stool next to Eureka. She also had a box, with some strings attached to it that had flat dots on the end.

"Now," she started, "I want you to tell me what hurts, and how you're feeling. I'm just going to attach these to your forehead – you know the drill."

Eureka nodded, and smiled a bit while she did it. It felt good to know the drill, to know what was happening.

But, before Mischa started, Eureka thought she saw something. A head, sticking into the doorway, behind the doctor's shoulder. When she looked up, however, the head quickly disappeared.

Mischa saw where Eureka was looking, and looked at the door.

"Come in. You know, you can't avoid her now that she's awake. In fact, I think it would be good if you two got to know each other. Therapeutic, even."

Cautiously, skittishly, a girl walked in.

She had on a pair of blue and white sweatpants, and a sweatshirt, both of which looked much too big for her, and didn't suit her at all.

She had a small, pale face; but even though it looked frail, and perhaps even fragile, it still bore a sense of strength, and an unassuming beauty. The face was framed by a waterfall of tumbling hair, a shade of blue that was soothing, and striking.

The face looked exactly like hers.

Eureka found that she couldn't think of anything to say. She could only stare at this strange, mirror-like image that walked slowly closer to the bed.

Not that this other girl looked any more comfortable with the situation. She kept her eyes down, or to the side; anywhere but directly at Eureka.

But eventually, she was right up at the side of the bed, and looking down didn't help. Her head slowly rose, until it was on Eureka's face.

They made eye contact; Eureka instantly felt dizzy. It was like looking into a chain of mirrors, seeing herself, looking at herself, looking at herself.

"Eureka, meet Eurecka," Mischa said, looking interestedly between the two of them. "And Eurecka, this is... the other you, I suppose."

_Eurecka._

It was so similar, yet so different.

_Kind of like the two of you._

The girl... Eurecka spoke.

"Hello?"

It was more of a question than a greeting. But Eureka managed to smile a little.

"Hi."

Something, maybe the smile, maybe just getting used to her, made Eurecka seem much happier.

"You look just like me," she said.

Eureka nodded.

"Yeah, I think so too."

Fairly instantly, Eureka noticed it. The girl... Eurecka, seemed new. She seemed just like Eureka herself had been, when she had just been learning, newly born..

_No, not just like me. Different, somehow._

She couldn't put her finger on it. But now that she was getting over the face, the fact that they looked almost identical, she could see that there _was _something different about her.

Eureka also decided this other her wasn't bad. In fact, if first impressions were anything, Eureka liked this girl. Besides, hadn't she been told that humans sometimes had twin siblings? How was this any different?

"Why did you do that in the rain?" Eurecka asked. She had knelt down on the floor beside the bed, and was leaning on the soft comforter, her identical face close to Eureka's.

"I'm sorry, do what?"

"Kiss Renton..."

Eurecka gestured to her lips.

"Oh," Eureka said, smiling again. "I thought he was someone else."

"You thought he was..." she struggled to find the right words for a moment, "_your _Renton? That's what Renton told me."

Eureka nodded.

"This is going to get very confusing, very fast," Dominic spoke up from his bed.

Mischa nodded, but didn't say anything. She was busy attaching the dots to Eureka's forehead.

"But why..." Eurecka gestured to her lips again.

"Why kiss on the _lips?_" Eureka asked.

She thought about it.

"Well..." she reasoned, "you kiss somebody on the lips when you _really_ like them. When you like them a_ lot,_ or you miss them, or you're going to miss them. At least, that's what I've been told."

"Oh," Eurecka said, looking off into space.

Mischa began her tests. A machine started up, and Eureka felt a slight buzz from the plastic pads attached all over her face. For some reason, the sensation made her wings stand on end. Eurecka seemed very distracted by them. She muttered something that Eureka couldn't make out.

"I'm sorry?" she asked. Eurecka looked up.

"Oh," she smiled, "you... your wings. I think they're... beautiful."

Eureka started to give a compliment back, but Eurecka interrupted.

"Why are they yours?"

"You mean, why do I have them?"

Eurecka nodded, hanging off of Eureka's every word.

"Well, that's... that's part of who I am... _we_ are. Coralian."

The answer created obvious confusion for Eurecka. She looked to Mischa, who was bending over the results spouting out of the machine; she seemed to trust the doctor.

"Actually," Mischa said over her shoulder, "I've tested Eurecka. She's not like you. She's as human as Dominic or I, albeit with some... experience differences."

Eureka shifted to a better sitting position. It didn't hurt as much anymore. More of a dull ache, then anything.

"How is that..."

She stopped. She didn't know what she was going to say. Her thoughts wouldn't organize themselves into coherent sentences.

"Well, considering we don't really know the whole history, and Rentin won't exactly tell us, I can't really give you an honest answer. Suffice it to say that I imagine both of your origins are very different."

"Where are you from?" Eureka asked her twin.

Eurecka opened her mouth, but then closed it again. She slowly twirled a string of hair around a finger.

"Renton says that this place is far away from home. I... don't know. He says that our home is in a different place."

"We've inferred that they're from a different universe. One very similar to ours," Dominic said. Eureka turned to look at him.

"Really?"

She looked back and forth between Dominic and Mischa, who had turned around in her chair. She nodded at Eureka.

"Yes. That's really all we know. We have no idea how they got here, really, or _why_ they're here. Perhaps there isn't a reason."

Eureka turned back to look at the girl kneeling next to her bed. Eurecka was listening, but Eureka couldn't be sure how much the girl understood. She knew _she_ wouldn't have, back when she had only just been getting a grasp on language. Of course, if Eurecka was human, she knew that she couldn't predict based off of her own experiences. Right?

"Can I touch them?" Eurecka suddenly asked, looking at the wings.

Eureka thought about it, but then nodded. She wasn't sure how cautious she should be about letting people touch them, yet. It felt good when Renton did, but she wasn't sure if she wanted other people doing the same thing.

Eurecka reached out, and gently brought her hands to rest on the wings' soft surface. Eureka felt herself inhale sharply; it _did_ feel nice, but there was something else. Almost a static feeling, coming from Eurecka.

"It's soft," Eurecka muttered. "Soft and squishy."

"Yes, and I haven't figured out what they're for," Mischa complained. "I can't figure out what practical purpose they would be good for. I don't have enough data. It's so frustrating; obviously they're meant for _something, _but no..."

Eurecka looked at her.

"Er.... But yes, they are soft... and squishy," Mischa amended, seeing the incomprehension on Eurecka's face.

Eureka shivered. She wasn't cold – in fact, she felt comfortably warm under the covers of the hospital bed, with the light from a window shining down on her.. But... it was like a magnetism, some invisible force that she could feel interacting between herself and Eurecka. It was a bit frightening.

A pencil dropped, a soft clapping noise on the metal floor. Eureka looked over, and saw that Mischa had let it slip from her fingers, too busy staring at the results coming in from the dots on her patient's head.

"Eureka..." she muttered, sounding almost stunned, "These results we're getting, they're... like nothing I've ever seen..."

She looked up at the two girls.

"Eurecka?" she asked, gesturing to the long-haired twin. "Could you move away from Eureka for a moment, please?"

Eurecka was clearly confused about this command, but obeyed anyway, backing off from Eureka's bed.

Mischa stared at her machine. She reached down, not taking her eyes off the results, and picked up the pencil on the floor, using it to scribble furiously on a clipboard. Eureka didn't even see where the clipboard came from; it just seemed to appear.

"Now step closer to Eureka again, dear," Mischa said, without looking.

Eurecka did. More furious scribbling.

"Mischa? What is it?" Dominic asked interestedly from his bed. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, legs hanging down near the floor.

The doctor looked up for a moment.

"Oh? Nothing, Dominic, nothing at all. At least, not yet. I'm going to have to talk to somebody about this. More than one somebody, actually."

"What's going on, Mischa?" Eureka asked.

"Well, I can't be sure," Mischa said, sharing her gaze between the machine and her writings. "But it looks like Eurecka is having... some kind of effect, on your... well, everything, actually. I might even go so far as to say-"

She stopped, and looked at Eurecka.

"Dear, would you mind sitting down on the bed next to Eureka for me, and doing a quick test?"

Eurecka looked wary..

"I don't think Renton would want me to-"

"It won't hurt," Mischa assured. "_You_ probably won't feel anything, if I'm guessing anywhere near the truth."

After a few more seconds thinking, Eurecka nodded.

"O.K."

Mischa smiled.

"Good, then if you could just move over a bit on your bed, Eureka..."

The two got adjusted, Eureka nearly being pushed off the bed. Mischa attached the same type of dots to Eurecka that were already on her look-alike. Then, she powered up the machine again.

As the results started coming in, nobody spoke. Mischa would make muttering sounds to herself at times, but didn't discuss what she was learning.

The strange force had gotten stronger when Eurecka had sat down on the bed. In fact, where their skin touched, it almost felt like static electricity. Well, maybe not like that. Less than that. But something, nonetheless. Eureka shivered again.

"I was right," Mischa said, looking back to the girls. "You're affecting each other. Reciprocally. Although, it would appear that Eurecka's readings are more affected."

"I... I can feel it," Eureka said. "Like reading the waves, almost. That feeling, the tingle on your skin. That's what I feel."

Mischa nodded.

"I thought you might have some awareness of it. As a Coralian, you've exhibited incredible senses to things that normal humans cannot detect. Of course, humans appear to be stronger in some areas that you are less able, so, it's really a trade-off."

"Why are they affecting each other?" Dominic asked.

Mischa put the pencil behind her ear, and stood up. She flipped through the pages she had written on the clipboard.

"I'm... not sure. I know they _are,_ affecting each other, that is; but I don't know why, orhow. I mean, the readings I'm getting back _are_ different. But they're different in a way that I'm not familiar with."

She shrugged.

"Although, if I were to graph these out, I might say that the two readings are almost... coinciding. Of course, I don't think that that's what's happening here."

"Coinciding?" Eureka asked. Dominic started to speak up, but she interrupted, gesturing to herself and Eurecka. "I know what it means, but... what does that mean, for the two of us?"

"Well, they're getting closer," Dominic answered for Mischa. "More similar. I don't think we know what the exact effect will be, do we Mischa?"

"No," the doctor answered, shaking her head. "I don't think so either. I need to show this to someone else. Preferably-"

She paused for a moment. Eureka could see she was deliberating over... something. But then, the doctor seemed to get over her internal struggle.

"-Dr. Egan," she sighed. "I suppose. I mean, as a starting point."

"Dr. Bear?" Eureka asked. "Will he know what all of this means?"

Mischa set down the pencil and clipboard on the desk, and turned off the machine.

"I don't actually know," she said slowly. "I'm not sure anyone has done research on something like this happening. But if someone _has,_ then Greg will have at least heard of them. I'm sure of that."

"Well, I thought we were leaving for Tresor to talk to them about all this, anyway," Dominic put in.

"I – What are you doing?" Mischa stood up.

Dominic was trying to stand. He pushed himself slowly off the bed, bare feet on the cold floor. Mischa got around Eureka's bed in two steps, and gave Dominic a supporting arm.

"You know," she chided, "you really shouldn't be doing this."

"You said I could be out by yesterday evening," he grunted, putting his full weight on his legs.

Mischa rolled her eyes.

"I_ did_ say that. But that was before we decided that you weren't ready just yet."

Dominic pulled free of the doctor's arm, and took several steps.

"Well now I _am_ ready," he said to Mischa, turning around and looking squarely at her.

"Fine. If you insist," Mischa said, holding up her hands. "Just do several tests quickly, and you can be out."

She brought him over to the part of the floor that wasn't covered in beds or machines.

"Alright, let's see how things are going..." the doctor muttered.

Dominic was sent through a set of stretches, and simple exercises; Mischa measuring things like blood pressure, heart rate, and feelings in extremities. Both Eurekas watched quietly, but interestedly from Eureka's bed. Interestedly, at least for Eureka, because she wanted to see if Dominic really was better. She didn't know about her counterpart.

While trying to reach his toes, Dominic gave them an odd glance. He laughed a bit to himself.

"You know, your faces look almost exactly alike. The expressions. Don't they, Mischa?"

"Yes, they do, don't they? It is a bit perturbing," Mischa said, sparing a quick glance before turning back to her patient.

The two Eurekas looked at each other. A smile crept onto Eureka's lips. Eurecka smiled back, and soon, the two were laughing uproriously.

Eureka couldn't stop. It hurt, but every time she looked at her twin, she just started laughing again. It seemed like Eurecka was the same way. Both had tears in their eyes.

"Looks like an epidemic," Mischa said dryly, looking at the two girls. "Eureka, you really should be careful about that. Laughing could be strenuous activity that your body isn't ready for yet."

Eureka tried to stop. She really did. She wiped away the laughing tears from her eyes, and took deep breaths – which hurt. She winced.

When she did, Eurecka stopped laughing, too.

"You're O.K?" she asked a bit worriedly. Eureka almost started laughing again. She had seen herself looking worried before, and, sans the long hair, it was exactly what she looked like.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Thank-you for asking." Sighing a bit, she settled back onto her pillow. Eurecka swung her legs off of the bed, and stood up.

It looked like Mischa was just about finished with Dominic. She had him run several other breathing tests, but looked grudgingly satisfied.

"All right..." she finally said. "You can go. Say hello to Anemone for me."

Dominic grinned.

"Thanks, Mischa. I will."

"Well then, go on," Mischa said, making a dismissing motion. "I think she's in the shop."

"I thought so," he said, nodding. "Thanks again Mischa. For everything."

He ducked out, the closing door behind him leaving a silence.

"I... am going too," Eurecka said slowly, edging toward the door.

Mischa nodded.

"Alright dear, that's fine."

With a last shared smile and wave at Eureka, the long-haired girl disappeared out the door.

Mischa sat down in a chair with a sigh. For a moment, their was only silence.

"Well..." Eureka began, "she _does_ look a lot like me..."

"Mhm," Mischa said, eyes closed. She seemed to be drained of energy, slumping in the chair a bit. Eureka supposed that she'd had a stressful last few days.

"...But she doesn't really act like I did... or do."

"That was my observation," Mischa muttered. She seemed to be drifting off, her voice getting fainter.

"Mischa, Dominic said something about us already planning to go to Tresor," Eureka said slowly. "Why?"

"Well, because of Rentin and Eurecka," the doctor murmured. "Holland wanted to get them checked out with Greg, and the others. Find out where they came from. Why they're here. How to get them back. A bit impractical, really, considering how many hoops we're going to have to go through to get there, but we_ are_ talking about Holland. Besides, I suppose we _should _help Eurecka. And Rentin, of course. But Eurecka especially. She really is a sweet girl, and she's so innocent... so peaceful... that sort of thing... aught to be... preserved... and nurtured at... home..."

The room filled with softly audible snores.

Eureka rolled her head on her pillow, looking up at the ceiling.

_Rentin and Eurecka._

The thought just felt_ odd_ to her, like when an LFO's steering was a little bit off. It could still fly, but it didn't handle right. She didn't know how she could get used to the idea.

_And what if they have to stay here... in our world?_

Would they stay with the Gekko? Would there always be two of her?

Make no mistake, she liked Eurecka. She thought she was sweet, and nice, and fun, too. It was weird that they had almost the same face, but so what? She was still a nice person. It would be hard to explain, but she had thought the same thing about explaining to Renton she was a Coralian, too.

_Renton..._

She wished he was there. This situation would seem so much easier to handle if he were there with her. Throughout all the bad stuff that had happened the last time, he had always been there. And now, with perhaps the strangest thing of all going on, he wasn't.

_But he will be here. He's coming._

She knew that, too. There was no way it could be otherwise. It just wouldn't happen.

Eureka shifted her wings under her on the bed. The mattress was soft enough that she didn't feel like he wings were being crushed, but they could still get uncomfortable, or fall asleep. Something like that, at least; they didn't really have the same sort of feelings as, say, her arms. It was hard to describe. As was the whole situation she was in now, of course.

And the... sensation, when Eurecka touched her? What was that? She kind of wanted to talk to Dr. Bear herself.

A flash of light.

There was an explosion, outside the ship. The room rocked, tipping the bed, and throwing Eureka onto the ground; she cried out in pain. The window was covered in dust.

"What in the world?" Mischa fumed, pushing herself off the ground. Her chair lay behind her: one of the arms had broken. She cried out too, looking down to see blood spilling from a gash on her arm; a shard of plastic clattered onto the ground.

She cursed, then stumbled hurriedly over to Eureka.

"Eureka! Are you alright? You-"

Another explosion, harder; it felt like it had hit the ship. Mischa covered Eureka this time, and the sound of glass flying past, clinking against the walls signaled the window had broken.

"Mischa! What's going on? What were those explosions?" Eureka cried.

The doctor didn't answer. Her body pressed onto Eureka's, the weight becoming unbearable. Eureka was in a semi-sitting position, holding most of her weight up with her arms. Her body screamed out in agony at the stress. She coughed.

"Mischa?"

No answer. Eureka looked into the doctor's face. But there was nothing there.

"Mischa!" Eureka gasped. Her brain couldn't process it. She froze.

The body rolled off of her, landing on the cold floor with a thump. The spear of glass that had embedded itself in her was pushed to the surface through her chest.

"Oh god, Mischa!" Eureka yelled, tears on her face. She leaned over her friend, and shook her by the shoulders. The body was heavy, limp. Mischa's empty face stared blankly up at the ceiling, blood slowly leaking down from her slack mouth.

"God, Mischa, wake up!"

There was another explosion, farther off this time. Eureka felt the Gekko come to life under her, the floor panels hummed with the force of the engines. She could feel the ship moving, pulling away from the ground.

It didn't matter. None of it mattered.

"_Mischa!_"

…............................................................................

"Hey, Renton, make sure your seatbelt's buckled," Annika's voice clattered over the speakers. It was a bit unnecessary, considering the door to the pilot's cabin was ajar.

_Right. Like it wouldn't be._

Renton felt a bit sick to his stomach. His seatbelt had been strapped as tight as it could go the entire time, but even if it hadn't been, he would've bet his grip on his arm-rests would have held him down. He never wanted to go flying in something Annika was piloting. Never again.

Still, he was a bit curious.

"Why?" he called forwards. "Why would you tell me that _now,_ I mean?"

"We've spotted something... odd," Kim's voice drifted back through the open door. "We're going to investigate. It might have to do with the Gekko craft."

"Yeah," Annika chimed in, not bothering with the intercom. "In other words, we saw some explosions out there, and we're going to go as fast as we can towards them."

"That's-" Renton was going to complain, but was interrupted.

"Like I said, buckle up."

The small ship jumped underneath them. As intimate as Renton had become with the ship's maneuverability in the last couple hours, he was still a bit worried when the outside world became a blur against his window. The noise of the ships engines grew from a background noise to a roar.

_Why couldn't they give me an LFO?_ he wondered, clutching his seat. _It would be so much easier that way._

The voices from the front were barely audible over the engine.

"There it is," Renton thought it was Kim who said that. It was hard to tell.

"Yeah, I see it. Lousy bastards. I knew we should have transferred troops," Annika (definitely) said.

"Isn't that green ship the Gekko?"

"I don't see a-"

"The one struggling to take off."

"Oh, yeah, I see it. Kinda hard with all that dust... and smoke..."

Against his greater judgement, Renton unbuckled his seat belt, and all but ran into the front compartment.

It was a mess of buttons, switches, and the like. Annika and Kim sat on two sides of a divide in the middle, again covered in glimmering buttons. But out, through the window that dominated most of the wall in front of him, Renton could see it.

The Gekko. Or at least, he thought it was the ship, peeking out of a cloud of dust and debris, like Annika had said. In front of them, near the ground on what looked like an abandoned road, the Gekko was trying to escape. There were shapes flying around the ship like vultures, painted in a camouflage pattern that Renton remembered.

"Kebrenac?" he asked.

Annika looked back at him, standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Renton, hey. Yeah, it's Kebrenac."

"Why are they attacking the Gekko?" Renton asked, distraught.

The KLFs circling the Gekko were dropping... some kind of bombs on the ship. They were inaccurate, but the explosions around the ship answered to their power. They had already decimated what looked like a hotel nearby. The Gekko was trying to escape, pull out from under the KLFs. Renton knew they couldn't launch their LFOs so close to the ground.

"Could be one of several reasons," Kim said slowly. She was monitoring... something, on several display screens at once. "Perhaps revenge? Did they know you were the one who exposed their invasion attempt, Mr. Thurston?"

"No! At least... I don't think so," Renton said, wondering. Did anybody recognize him during the raid that would have led to this? He didn't know.

"Doesn't matter," Annika said, slowing down the ship as she approached the battle. "They are attacking, forget why."

"Agreed," Kim admitted.

"We've got to help them!" Renton said.

"And how do you propose we do that, Mr. Thurston?" Kim asked, dryly. "Our ship is _not _meant for combat."

"I agree with Renton," Annika said. She curved the ship up as she spoke, gaining more height over the enemy KLFs. "And, I have a few ideas of what we could do."

She turned to Renton again.

"Renton? In the back compartment, the storage thing, whatever, there's a gun. A gatling cannon, technically."

"What are you doing with one of those?" Kim asked in amazement. Or was it criticism? "They're... very non-regulation."

"Never leave home without it," Annika said quickly. "Anyway, Renton. If you tie yourself to the ship with the rope that's _also _back there, and opened one of the emergency exit doors, I bet you could hit a few Kebrens pretty easily. Do you have that jacket I gave you? It's cold out there."

"Are you sure? Our mission is to get Mr. Thurston safely back to the Gekko," Kim said.

"Renton?" Annika asked again.

He thought about it.

"Alright," he said hurriedly, "I'll do it."

Annika nodded.

"Good. Go. I'll try to set up your shots for you."

Renton nodded back, and went back into the passenger compartment. He _almost_ ran to the back of the ship, and the cargo compartment, but figured a broken neck probably wouldn't be a good idea at this point. Especially since the ship seemed to lurch in random directions at will.

He grabbed the red and white jacket that he had been given when they had left the base. Pulling it on, he marveled at how much it seemed exactly like the jacket he had worn when he had left the Gekko the last time.

He stumbled just as he reached the compartment, slamming against the button that opened the door. All the... stuff that had been in the compartment spilled onto the ship's floor with a crash.

"Ow..." Renton muttered, rubbing his arm. But he shook it off.

He spotted the gun, next to a... ref board.

_Who does that belong to?_

It sure wasn't his. And Annika said she didn't have anything to do...

Renton shook his head. There was no time to think about that sort of thing at the moment. He grabbed the handle of the enormous gun, and tried to pull it out.

It was heavy as hell.

He struggled, gripped the gun with both arms, and hoisted it up the hall. He examined it a bit. It was fashioned of black metal, and had a simple trigger, on the top of the weapon. He supposed it was held from the handle on the top, unlike any gun he had ever seen. Of course, he hadn't really seen that many.

"Got it, Renton?" he heard Annika call back.

"Yeah!" he grunted, working towards the emergency exit.

"We are almost in position!" Kim called.

Renton reached the door. He stretched his hand out to the door handle, but pulled it back. He knew he was forgetting something.

_The rope!_

He looked around frantically. Where was the rope supposed to be? He looked back at the heap of objects that had fallen out of the cargo compartment; soon he spotted a length of red rope peeking out from the bottom of the pile.

"Ready, Renton?" Annika called. "Here's your chance!"

"No, wait!" he answered, setting the gargantuan gun down. He raced back to the pile, grabbed the end of the rope, knotted it around his waste and hoped it would hold. Running back to the exit, he shakily tied it to the supports of a chair.

"Alright, ready!" he called, reaching out for the latch on the door. He hoisted the gun onto his knee with one hand, through the amazing powers of adrenaline, and flung the door open.

The wind was deafening.

The force of it almost instantly started biting his face. It pulled at his hair, and forced tears from his eyes. He could barely stick his head out of the opening, but it didn't matter. He hadn't come to sight-see.

He braced himself against the inside of the doorway, and latched onto the gun as if for dear life.

Renton barely registered how far down the ground was, careening beneath them, when one of the KLFs shot by, startlingly close. It was of the type that he had seen before, but didn't recognize, spindly, with a long neck.

This time there were no second thoughts; there was no time for wondering whether he was doing the right thing. There was just the urge – to protect his friends, and the people he loved.

Aiming as well as he might, Renton pulled the trigger.

The force from the shots he fired nearly made him fall out of the ship. The jerking of the gun as it fired was jarring, and once or twice he accidentally let go of the trigger.

Regardless, the firearm spat fire at the enemy KLFs. They swooped by Renton's firing range blindingly fast, but his weapon was firing an almost continuous stream of bullets.

He hooked his right foot around the leg of a chair inside the ship. Annika was having to swerve the ship to avoid the KLF's fire; they were starting to notice the small transport that had entered their midst. Renton struggled to keep his balance and keep firing.

Another KLF swerved in front of him. They seemed so much more agile from the transport than from the hand of another machine.

It didn't save them though. An explosion of purple and green; the KLF's entire left side was dashed, and shards plummeted toward the ground, so far below.

The enemy KLF retreated hastily, but its friends wouldn't back off. Rounds as wide as Renton's body danced around the ship; Annika was barely able to skirt every one.

Or, almost every one.

The ship tilted sharply. Renton lost his footing; the open door of the ship yawned wide.

"Ahh!"

He felt himself falling out, the dead weight of the gun slipping from his hands.

Renton grabbed onto the bottom edge of the opening with his right hand; he dangled precariously over the unforgiving ground, far below.

The ship righted itself – but this did not solve Renton's problem. Somehow, the knot around the chair came undone, and the rope flapped around his waste.

"Hey!" he yelled out. He could barely hear himself over the wind. "Hey! Somebody!"

More rounds flew past – Renton felt the heat of them sizzling underneath as they shot under the ship. He swung his other hand onto the lip of the opening. His hands were numb – he barely could barely tell whether he was holding on.

A shadow crossed over them – another KLF. It passed so close to the ship, that Renton could see little scratches and dents in its board.

Unfortunately, he could also see the barrel of its cannon, pointed straight at him.

A flash of light – but instead of incinerating the ship, it plunged straight through the KLF. The explosion made Renton lose his right-hand grip. He stretched his neck, trying to look over, and see where the shot had come from.

Another shadow – one that Renton recognized. The Gekko swung over them, blocking out the sun for a moment. It fired more shots – one, two. Renton could hear the KLFs scattering.

Suddenly, he felt hands on his, trying to pull him in. He looked up to see Kim struggling to hoist him up.

"Grab on to my hands!" she yelled over the wind.

Renton swung his loose right hand into Kim's waiting grip. She pulled, grimacing; it felt like she might pull his arms off.

He got his elbow over the edge, his head out of the wind. Gruelingly, he tried to pull the rest of his body into the ship, until he simply rolled over onto the floor. Kim reached over and shut the door behind him. Renton found himself looking up into her anxious face.

"Are you alright?" she asked, panting. Her previously perfect hair and uniform were wild and mussed. Renton noticed something in her tone that seemed... different, then when he had talked to her before. More... honest?

Renton took several gulps of air before answering. He rolled over, and pushed himself up, untying the remains of the rope around his waste.

"Yeah," he finally said. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where's the Gekko?"

"They're circling us," Kim said. She walked back toward the pilot's room. "But we can't contact them, most likely for the same reason that we couldn't find them before."

They entered the room. Out the cockpit window, Renton could see the Gekko, circling in front of them. It was smoking from several openings, but was still in the air.

"How are we doing back there, Renton?" Annika asked as they sat down. Renton grabbed an observers chair up against the wall.

"Good. I got one or two of them," he said. "What's the status of the Gekko?"

"Well, obviously, they don't know we've got you," Annika said, taking a hand off the control to brush a copper strand of hair out of her face. "I think they're trying to decide what to do with us. In a couple minutes, if they don't run away, I'll drift closer. See if they get the message."

"We can't let them run away," Kim reprimanded. She seemed back to her normal self. "That would be unacceptable. Make the overture by drifting closer now."

Annika saluted. Or perhaps it was a mock-salute.

"Whatever you say, ma'am."

A display beeped.

"We... may have complications..." Kim muttered, hovering over the screen. "There are more KLFs approaching from all vectors."

"Where's the damn military?" Annika complained. "Haven't they noticed we're being_ invaded_ yet?"

"Highest possibility: it is, in fact, an invasion, and they are preoccupied elsewhere," Kim said, almost to herself.

"Uh-oh," Annika grumbled. "The Gekko's spotted our new friends. They're moving off. I won't be able to catch them if they get up to full-speed. The Gekko isn't like battleships. I could catch up to those. But the Gekko... they can _see_ the Trapar currents."

"Regardless, we have to catch them _somehow,_" Kim said.

They were silent for a moment, Annika adjusting their course to stay as up close to the Gekko as possible.

"Dammit!" Renton yelled. He banged his fist against the wall behind him. He was so close. There had to be some way.

_Wait a minute..._

"The ref-board!" he said excitedly. "There's a ref-board back there! I could use it!"

Kim looked at him.

"A ref-board? Why would that be here?"

Annika opened her mouth, but then closed it again.

"The kid's right," she finally muttered, not looking at Renton. "He should use it. They'll see who it is and slow up for him. And he'll be easy enough to get inside that they can have plenty of time to run away from our friends who – need I remind – are _closing in._"

Kim sighed.

"It's against my better judgment," she said, "but it might be our only option."

Renton nodded, and ran back to the pile of stuff in the rear of the ship. The clutter had become even more of a mess, after the battle it had just gone through.

He grabbed the board. It was painted black, with two symmetrical lightning-bolts on the top in white. The wheel was white as well, and slightly bigger than average.

He grabbed hold of the door's now-familiar handle, and pulled. Somehow, it was less intimidating this time. He had a ref-board. This was something he knew he knew how to do.

"Good luck, Mr. Thurston!" Kim called, from the doorway of the pilot's room. And for a moment, Renton thought he saw her smile.

"See ya, Renton!" Annika yelled back, although he couldn't see her.

He nodded, and jumped out the door. The wind yanked him back like a kite, the ship seeming to shoot past him; he started his free fall.

Once again though, this time, the sense of weightlessness was not something he feared as he fell. It felt more comforting than anything.

He put the board under him, and felt the lift of the Trapar underneath him. His falling stopped, and instead, he was just flying.

Grinning in spite of himself, Renton swerved over the transport ship, and started making his way toward the Gekko.

He was so close. Finally, he would be back. Eureka was hopefully there, waiting for him.

_You're not gonna get away. No way will I let that happen._

The Gekko was fast, but for some reason, the Trapar seemed to give Renton an extra boost, rocketing toward the green, white and gold ship.

Suddenly, the Gekko slowed down, by a large amount. The ducts that spat out the trail in the trapar slowed down to almost a trickle. Renton saw the launch-ramp open.

_They must have seen me._

Renton swerved up into the sky. The Gekko also angled up, to the point where Renton could almost fall into the cargo bay. Crazily, he was reminded of a time, long ago in Bellforest, that was so alike he laughed out loud.

The ramp of the Gekko opened wide for him. Renton slowly maneuvered himself down into it, he was inside, and the Gekko leveled out.

Slowing down, Renton jumped off the board, caught it – and fell onto the floor on his face.

"Ow..." he muttered into the cold metal.

The ramp closed behind him. It suddenly seemed that all sound was extinguished. It was just so unnaturally... quiet, after the sheer volume of the wind.

Renton got up, board under one arm, and looked around.

There was nobody there to greet him, at least not yet. The LFOs were all in their usual places, except – Renton noticed with a pang in his heart – Nirvash. The other LFO Renton had seen Holland use... the Blowfish, or something, was missing as well.

Renton walked across the floor towards the stairs, his steps sounding oddly hollow in the large hangar.

In the hallways, too, there was nobody. Until he nearly ran into Matthieu, who was pelting around a corner at top-speed.

"Wha- Oh! Renton! It's you!" his startled look turned into amazement, then glee, then worry in the space of half a second.

"Sorry, I'd love to talk, but I've got to go down to the storage-" he said hurriedly, then pushed past Renton and down the hallway. Over his shoulder, he shouted back: "Go up to the bridge! Someone'll give you a job there, probably! We can all catch up later!"

"Wait! Mr. Matthieu! Is Eureka here?" Renton called after him, but he had already turned another corner.

Renton stood there, board at his side. He felt a bit limp.

That really hadn't been the welcome he had been expecting.

He walked on. Really, he felt numb all over now; out-of-sorts. Everyone was supposed to have been waiting for him... or something. Something other than what was happening now.

_But they've probably got damages they're trying to fix, after that sneak attack._

Still though, they could have at least spared _somebody._

Really though, Renton just worried about Eureka. Clearly she wasn't here. If she had been, she, at least, would have been waiting for him near the hangar. That, he was sure of.

He heard voices, up ahead. Around the corner that led by the medical bay. Panicked voices.

Renton started running. Somehow, he was sure something was wrong. Terribly wrong. It was the only explanation.

He turned the corner, and was greeted by a sight he... had not expected.

Himself.

Renton shook his head, but the apparition stayed there. It looked just like him, except maybe a couple scars on his arms, and maybe their haircuts, a bit.

"Oh-" it said, surprised. Then, the face hardened. "Look, I don't have time for this right now. I have to go get medical supplies. Out of my way."

Renton stood there, slack-jawed. The board fell out of his grip, and clattered to the floor.

The thing front of him rolled his eyes, and tried to push past him.

"Move, dammit!" the mirror image said angrily, and rushed past him, down the same hallway Renton had just come.

"Wha-" Renton felt short-circuited. He watched the apparition turn the corner, then he turned back to the medical bay. There were still the cries of distraught people emanating from it.

Forgetting the board, he walked numbly closer. What he saw inside, for a moment, didn't even register.

Blood. There was blood everywhere on the floor. Somebody's blood – he couldn't see who's. There were people crowded into the room, faces he thought he knew, but could not bring himself to recognize. They were all crushed into the small space, circling... someone, or something.

Somebody noticed him, shouted his name. He didn't notice. He pushed forward through the crowd, not wanting to know what was on the other side.

A flash of blue. Eureka was in his arms, somehow. He felt her tears seep through his jacket. He held her close – but the floor held his attention more.

Mischa lay dead in a pool of blood, Holland huddled over her.

It wasn't until much later that Eureka told him what he said to her next, something he didn't even remember saying:

"It'll be alright."

...................................................................

So.

Hope it was worth the wait.

What's that? I killed a character? Well... yeah. I did do that.

Yay? Nay?

Until next time.


	11. Resurrected

So, hey! Long time no see, right?

Look. You guys have heard all the excuses all a million times before, so I'm not going to even make 'em. Needless to say, not a lot has happened with this story recently. Actually, I've been working on my Nanowrimo. If you don't know what that is, you should.

I'm here to tell you that's gonna change.

I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna do it yet, but something is going to happen. I'm going to continue it in some way or another. Either I'll get back into it in earnest, and finish it how I originally planned (we're just about halfway through by the original plan, if that far), or I'm gonna give you guys a finale you'll never forget.

I also wanted to post this so that you guys could all put your thoughts on the last chapter – chapter 10. I realize that you couldn't review it because of what had been there earlier, so now you can.

Oh, and also, if you want you should look into Slop Doggy's CoA. For more info, look on my profile. The first fic is already up, but other authors'll add theirs soon.

And did anybody else think Avatar was awesome? We're gonna see that movie as the turning point in CGI and 3-D. Trust me.

P.S. This is gonna be awesome.

Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Surprised exclamations that I'm still alive?


	12. An Offer You Can't Refuse

Here's the deal, you guys. There's not a day gone by that I haven't worried about this story, and about letting all you down. I don't want this to become another in the long line of disappointing, unfinished stories.

However, I have a problem. It's been so long that I've lost the groove. I need something to kick-start me again... something to put me back on track. I need you guys.

So therefore, I am holding open submissions for the next chapter of Debarasser. Anyone may submit an entry, but only one. My e-mail is .com. I will take the best chapters I receive, edit them, and then use them to kick-start the next part of the story. Hopefully, it'll turn my gears enough that I'll be able to get back on track, and we'll finish this story before you know it.

So what'd'ya say?


	13. Let it Be

The Gekko cruised above the clouds, it's shadow slipping over white like the form of some enormous bird. Renton looked down at it through the windows in the bottom of the lounge.

He sat with Eureka on one side of the half-circle couch. The others sat, silently, on the other.

Holland had told them to get out of his hair while he dealt with... with everything that had happened. To go meet each other and settle that. So, here they were.

Rentin glared at him. Frankly, Renton couldn't tell what his problem was. From the whole hour that he had known him, Rentin seemed petulant, childish, and mistrusting.

Vaguely, Renton wondered if that had been him, before everything had happened with Gekkostate.

"Your hair color is pretty," Eurecka said, hopefully, to her counterpart.

Eureka smiled sweetly. "Thank you. Yours is too."

"No," the long-haired girl looked sad. "Mine isn't. It's not blue, and it's not green. It's hopeless."

"They're the same color, Eurecka," Rentin said, taking his eyes off of his doppelganger for a moment. "Yours is just as beautiful as hers."

Eurecka smiled at him, but didn't say anything.

A silence stretched between the two groups, only pierced by the low rumbling of the engines, and the sound of Matthieu yelling for some reason in the hallways.

"How about a game of cards?" Eureka tried. "I learned one game from Hilda... Go Fish."

"I love fishes!"

"Eurecka, they're not real fish."

"Oh..."

More silence.

"Does your Warsaw have lots of nice colors?" Eurecka asked. "Ours has lots of them when it's sunny. Lots of flowers, too."

"I don't know about flowers in Warsaw..." Eureka said sadly. "It's mostly raining all the time when we're there. Actually, that seems to be all it does."

"That's sad. Our Warsaw has lots of water, too. From a flood. Rentin told me about it. There was a big Flood. Now there is lots more space for the fishes."

"That's... good. For the fish, I mean," Eureka replied. "Does it flood often?"

"No, only once. One big one," Eurecka said. Rentin looked pained.

"What do you mean, Eurecka? One big one?" the girl with the wings asked.

"The Flood covered the planet," Rentin broke in. "It killed more people than any other one event in the history of the planet. All that's left is islands. It was partly our fault."

The longest silence so far seemed to stretch for hours, although it could only have been for a few minutes. Eurecka nestled up against Rentin, looking worriedly into his face. He smiled wanly at her, and closed his eyes, leaning back against the couch.

"We've gone through a lot, too," Eureka said. "I'm sorry for what happened. We know how that sort of thing feels."

Rentin didn't open his eyes. "You couldn't possibly know what it's like."

"You don't know what happened to us," Renton couldn't keep quiet anymore. "And don't talk like that to Eureka."

"Sorry, your Highness," Rentin continued, sounding bored. "Maybe you should calm down. Go look at your moon for a while or something."

"I don't know what happened to you, you're right," Renton said, standing up. Eureka looked worriedly between the two of them. "But I do know that whatever it was, it doesn't give you the right to behave like a stuck up kid."

"Who's the kid, huh?" Now Rentin sat up, looking straight in the eyes of his counterpart. "What have you done for the crew since you got here, huh? Give them some words of encouragement? I can tell you didn't do any work around here even when you were a part of the crew."

"Stop talking like you know about the Gekko! You don't!"

"Renton, sit down," Eureka said quietly. "They've been through a lot. We all have."

"Yeah, well I don't care!" Renton kept going. It felt like some of his contained feelings from the whole past week spilled out. "He's been glaring at me, at you, and at everyone since I got here! He doesn't have the right!"

"I have every right!" the two were yelling for real now. Eurecka tugged on Rentin's sleeve, but he pulled away. "People have died around me my whole life. You think you have it hard, I get that. But guess what? If what's left of the military could find me and Eurecka, they'd kill us. I'm sorry if being in the world where everyone adores you and thinks your the greatest is hard. But I think I'm allowed to be a little on edge, given where we are. We might never get home, and I will not spend the rest of my life as the shadow of some idiot with his name in the moon!"

Renton punched him square on the mouth.

"Renton!" Eureka cried, but he wasn't listening. He moved out from the couch, and onto the floor of the lounge. The windows below them glistened from moisture, so close to the clouds. The light from the sun reflected off the droplets, throwing their shadows onto the ceiling.

"You punch like a guy who's only ever had to fight in his KLF," Rentin grinned. He launched himself off of the couch, tackling Renton. He tried to get his mirror image into a headlock, but Renton twisted around, kneeing the other teen in the chest.

Rentin fell to the ground breathing hard.

"Stop! Stop, you! Stop it!" Eurecka threw herself between the two of them.

But Rentin wasn't done yet. He grabbed Renton's legs from around Eurecka, and pulled, hard. Renton fell to the ground, his head sticking out over the platform, nothing but the windows and then the empty sky below him.

Not wasting a moment, Rentin clambered up on top of the other boy, aiming a punch to the head. But Renton caught his arm, and used it as a lever to roll over. Now he was kneeling over Rentin.

"Stop! The both of you! This is not alright!" Eureka called. She ran over to the two of them, grabbing Renton's arm. Without thinking, he broke out of her hold, hitting her in the nose.

"Ouch!" she fell back. Her nose began bleeding.

Hearing Eureka cry out seemed to have no effect on Renton for several moments, the two boys struggling on the ground. Then, it seemed to hit. Renton stopped, looking at Eureka sitting on the ground, looking at a drop of blood on her hand.

"Eureka!" he got off of Rentin, who seemed to pause as well, feeling a bruise on his cheek.

"What is going on here?" came the voice of Talho, from the bridge above. "Rentin! Renton! What are you two idiots getting into?"

Seeing Talho, Eurecka ran up the stairs and buried her head in Talho's arms. She was crying. Rentin stood up, looking up at Eurecka guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Eureka. I didn't mean to, honest," Renton was saying, trying to put a protective arm around her. She shrugged it off.

"We just got back together with everyone, Renton," she said. She stood up and moved off to the table in front of the couch, leaning against it. "And you start fighting? What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know what just happened," Talho said angrily, coming down the stairs, "and I don't want to know. A lot has happened recently. I get that. Hilda just decked Matthieu in the hallway. We're all on edge. But this is not what Mischa would have want us to do."

Both Rentons looked down at the floor at the same time.

"And frankly, you're betraying her memory. Just think on that before you go throwing punches in my ship, got it?"

She put a protective arm around Eurecka. "This girl is confused and hurt, Rentin. She needs your help to comfort her. Not to go putting more anger into the mix." Then she turned to the other boy. "And you, Renton. I'm glad you're back. We all are. But right now we have to deal with one problem at a time. I'm sure you understand that if you're not a part of the solution, then you're part of the problem."

"Talho-" Renton began.

"I don't want to hear it," she said, her voice biting. "We'll be landing in Tresor in one hour. Then we'll... we'll deal with Mischa's body. I need you all to not cause trouble for that time. After that, I don't care if you punch each other out."

"Don't worry, Talho," Eureka said, a bit more strongly now. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Talho gave a small smile. "Oh, I know you will. And if any of these boys starts trouble again, you have my permission to throw them out the hangar."

Eureka nodded seriously. Her counterpart looked worried.

"Now, I'm going to go check on everything with the others," Talho said to Eurecka. "Can I leave you here, or do you want to come with me?"

"I'll be okay," Eurecka said uncertainly. She pulled herself away from Talho, and moved over to stand side-by-side with her counterpart.

Nodding, Talho turned to leave. "Idiots," she breathed.

After she left, Renton and Rentin stayed looking at each other for a long moment from opposite sides of the lounge. Finally, they both offered each other a hand at the same time.

"Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot-"

"I think maybe-"

They both stopped. Eurecka giggled.

"Look," Renton said. "This is weird. The whole thing. But maybe..."

"Maybe we have a lot more in common than we think," Rentin finished for him.

Renton nodded. They shook hands.

"Good," Eureka said. Both she and Eurecka nodded. "Now, let's try and be productive. I've heard most of the story from Eurecka, but I want you to start from the beginning. Renton, pay attention. How did you two get here?"

The two pairs sat back down at the table.

…...

"It's so small. This is really it?" Talho asked.

"Yep. L-17-10. Dream Energy," Woz said.

Holland sat on a chair with his leg propped up on the table in the situation room, in his underwear."It doesn't look like much, Woz. This Sonia's sure that it's going to help us?"

"If Sonia says it will, than it will," he said, looking at their commander seriously. "She's brilliant. If she said that the moon was in fact a big animal, I would believe her."

"Alright, jeez, I believe you," Holland sighed. "Talho, we need to get this canister refrigerated."

She nodded. "Hilda, would you and Gidget _very carefully_ take this down to the refrigeration unit? Clear out any space you have to. Then prop something up against the door and lash the two together. If this fell and broke open... well, just don't let that happen."

"Fine," Hilda said, grabbing the L-17-10 by it's rope cradle with Gidget. "Just don't blame me if we get in a dogfight again and all hell breaks loose. You ought to tell Moondoggie no barrel rolls."

"Just make it safe. I'll handle Doggie," Talho said.

The two girls left, passing Mischa in the doorway. The woman stepped in.

"Mischa," Holland couldn't move to look at her, so he just tilted his head back over the back of the chair. "How's Matthieu?"

"He's fine. He's going to have a bump the size of my fist for a while, but he should be fine. Drops in and out of consciousness, babbling about recording a new album."

"Holland, can I talk to you?" Talho suddenly said.

Holland gave her a look. "You don't have to ask to..."

"I mean in private."

Holland and Woz shared a glance. "Sure," Holland said after a little while, "Woz, Mischa, would you guys mind-"

"No problem, Holland. I want to go see if I can analyze the L-17-10" at Holland's reaction, he ammended, "_carefully analyze _the L-17-10 with Jobs."

"And I should make sure Matthieu doesn't hurt himself doing his 'recordings'," Mischa said. The two of them both stepped out of the room.

"What is it, Talho?" Holland asked when the door had closed. "Is there an issue?"

"You can bet there's an issue," she said, sitting on the table right in front of Holland.

"If this is about whether we should be doing this or not-"

"Holland, I know we said that we want to help those kids, but let's think about this..."

The commander shook his head in exasperation. "I thought you were all for going through and getting them. What changed, huh?"

"We don't even know what's on the other side. We don't know if it's even remotely safe. We don't know if they're still alive. There's so many things that we just don't know."

"But that's why we need to be quick about it. We need to get them back before something happens."

"And Wendy?"

Holland was taken aback. "What about her?"

"What if something goes wrong, and you or I get killed? How is she going to grow up, knowing that? Or if she's the one that gets hurt?"

"She won't," Holland said, sounding more certain than he felt. "I'll make sure she won't."

"Sure. Make sure, just like all the other times you were sure about something."

"I just want to fix some of what we've done. The world is in shambles because of us-"

"You think I don't know that? This isn't about the past, Holland. This is about the future."

"I'm thinking about the future!" Holland exclaimed, standing up, grabbing the cane Mischa had given him and moving to the other side of the room. He looked at the wall. "I'm thinking about those kids future."

"We don't have any real responsibility to them, Holland. We have a responsibility to our child."

"We have a responsibility to everyone! To everyone that we've hurt!" Holland yelled, louder than he meant to. Talho eyes became large for a moment.

"We're just kids, Holland. No matter what we look like," she said. "We can't take the whole world onto our shoulders."

"I don't care about any of that," Holland said, moving and taking Talho by the shoulders. "I don't care what people say we can and can't do. We've had enough of that our whole lives. From the Agony on."

"And when we went against what people said? We caused... well, everything that's happened..." Talho said quietly. "Holland, I just want us to be safe. I just want everyone to be safe from now on. And the Gekko is the problem."

"What?"

She nodded. "I've been thinking about it. So long as we have the Gekko, nothing will stop you. You'll keep working yourself and avenging and fixing past wrongs until you drop dead. I know you," she put a hand to his cheek, "better than anyone. We've got to stop. To destroy the Gekko, sell it, whatever it takes to settle down. We'll find an island-"

The two of them were silent for a long while.

"Maybe," Holland finally said. "Maybe that would be best."

"Really? You meant that?"

"I don't know. I have to think about it," he said. Then, he took Talho's head in his hands. "But not before we fix this. We're going to get those kids back, and everyone's going to come out safe. I promise."

"Holland..."

Suddenly, the alarms blared. Holland and Talho reacted without even thinking, running through the halls until they came to the bridge.

"What's going on? What is it?" Holland demanded. Moondoggie was sitting at his post, and Ken-Goh was looking at the displays.

"It looked like something was there for a second," he said. "Something on the sensors, but I think it might have been just a blip."

"I definitely saw something, man," Moondoggie proffered from his seat. "Something off starboard."

Holland dropped down into the lounge. The windows from here could see practically everything next to and below the ship.

He looked around, even dropping below to the windows on his knees as carefully as he could. The glass was tough enough to hold his weight, so long as he didn't go jumping around.

Then, after double checking all angles, he called up to Talho, who had been looking out the top and frontal windows. "See anything?"

"No. Nothing. Whatever it was, it's gone now."

"Wait!" Moondoggie cried. "Over there!"

They all looked.

"Holland, it's the same signal on the sensors," Ken-Goh said.

Holland peered through the window and saw... a flock of geese.

"Geese," Talho said simply.

"Yeah, I see them too," he called up, clambering back into the lounge and snatching back up the cane.

"Are you serious?" Moondoggie complained. "Man, you better complain to one of those two knuckleheads because those scanners are _way_ too sensitive if they're picking up geese. Really."

"I'll talk to them about it," Holland said. "How far to Tresor?"

"Just a couple more hours. We just passed the last island before we get there," Moondoggie said. "Say, commander, do you know _what_ exactly we're going to do with that dream stuff once we get there?"

"Well, not exactly, no," Holland said. "I mean, it's got to be some sort of machine or something though, right? Powered by the energy."

"My bet is we've got to blow it up to cause some sort of reaction," Ken-Goh said enthusiastically.

"We don't always have to blow things up, Ken-Goh," Talho sighed.

"No, but it never hurts."

Talho gave Holland a look, which he interpreted as _this crew still has a long way to go._

It was true. They'd spent far too much time on the run. Maybe it was time to hang up the Gekko after this. Get a real life.

_But practically no time to think about all that right now_, Holland thought to himself. It was weird. He never had any time to think on anything.

"You've got the bridge, Talho," he said, heading back into the hallway.

"For a little while, anyway," Talho muttered, but Holland wasn't paying attention at that point.

He moved back up towards their quarters.

Wendy was sleeping when he went in. The light from the windows cast the room in a kind of perpetual twilight, only a slip of light playing across the floor.

Holland went over to the crib, looking down at his baby girl.

She was so small. So fragile. Holland smiled. When he lifted her up, she seemed almost too light. He would never have admitted it to Talho, but he was a little afraid of breaking her when he held her. Stupid, he knew. But all the same...

He would die before he saw her grow up, probably. Even if not at the end of some KLFs blade, then of old age. It was funny. A couple of months ago, the prospect filled him with absolute dread. To be cheated out of a full life, and to be silenced before he had said all he had to say was the worst punishment he could think of for what they did. For what they were made to do.

But now... Now, looking down at baby Wendy, with her head of soft brown hair and small button nose, he just felt sad. The kind of long sadness that came with a regret long seated in the heart. The fact that it rested though, he knew, meant that in a way he had accepted it.

It was about how they used the time they had left, really. Another 15 years was all he needed. Another 30 was the most he had been told to expect, and that was a long shot. They had earned more through their actions, in a way, although it didn't feel like it. But that didn't change the fact that they would all die before they turned 40 on the inside.

"Commander?" came Woz's voice from outside the door, softly.

Holland stood up and moved over to the door, wiping something out of his eye. He pressed the door open and stood leaning against the frame. "Yeah? What do you want?"

"Well, it's just that Doggie asked me and Jobs to look at the sensors, but to do that I'd have to take them off line – and frankly with the military possibly after us for what we're carrying, I'm not all that comfortable-"

"Oh, Woz," Holland interrupted. "Hey, I was wondering. Do we know... I mean, do you know what exactly the L-17-10 is for?"

Derailed from his question, Woz paused for a moment. "You mean, in practical application?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not."

"Well... Sonia always said it was really more of a conduit, or trigger by which a reaction could be initiated. There needs to be a source of energy present for the reaction to take place, but the dream energy allows for a complete crystallization of the waves commonly found among communicating Image hive clusters. But some studies have shown-"

Woz went on for several more minutes. Sometimes it was best to just let him get it all out, instead of interrupting and then having him start from the beginning.

Eventually, he ran out of steam. Then, Holland saw it was his turn.

"So, the gist of what you're saying is that this reaction that'll open the portal to the other world... will use this energy like a wire between batteries?"

Woz looked at him like he had just grown two horns. "...I... I guess you could put it like that," he said slowly.

"Is it dangerous?"

Once again, Woz seemed confused. "Of course it's dangerous... it's only one of the most unstable elements on the entire planet."

Holland sighed. _Focus on the mission. Get in, get out._

"Alright. Fine," he said. Then, in a different tone. "Don't worry about the sensors right now. We can fix them later."

"Whatever you say, commander," Woz said. He walked off down the hall, shaking his head slightly.

Holland leaned his head against the door frame.

He was only 23 years old. He had hoped that after twenty things would get easier.

_But no such luck._

…...

He was in a very high place, walking on top of a trapar stream that Renton could see stretching miles out into the horizon. The light shone off of the trapar's invisible length, almost blinding in it's intensity.

"It doesn't prove anything," he said, although he already knew the answer he would receive.

"Perhaps not," Dewey walked alongside him as if he had always been there. "But I would like to note that your first reaction to something strange and different _was_ violence."

"He... provoked me," Renton said simply.

The trapar collapsed, dropping the two figures through the sky. Renton wasn't alarmed, though. He and Dewey kept walking forward calmly as the plummeted through the clouds.

"Provocation is no excuse," Dewey said. "It takes two men to fight. You even hurt your precious Coralian girl. Do you see now what you can do?"

"Oh, come on," Renton argued. "It was just a... just a disagreement. It wasn't anything."

"It was everything!" Dewey grinned. "You lost control."

As they fell, a skyfish larger than any Renton had ever seen pulled out underneath them. They fell to its surface, and kept walking along its enormous length.

"We've solved our differences. We agreed to start over."

Dewey shook his head. "So short-sighted. Did my brother ever teach you anything?"

"What? What are you trying to say?"

The pale man's neck stretched impossibly long, turning to speak to Renton even as they walked side-by-side. "What if you should be compromised again?"

"I make mistakes. Everyone makes them," Renton said. If there was anything he had learned through his adventures, it was that. "I'm not afraid of that."

"Making small mistakes is acceptable. But what if you should be too afraid to act? Or too angered to make the right decision? You hurt the girl today. What makes you think you can protect her if you should fall to your own weaknesses?"

"There's nothing I can do about any of that!" Renton said, exasperated. "We all just have to live with that sort of stuff."

"I didn't," Dewey said, and here the flesh of his face rolled back, the skull underneath grinning.

Renton stopped. They stood now on the Earth. A waterfall of scub coral plunged off the cliff and into the sea.

"You're not making any sense."

"Take control of yourself. Take control of your passions, of your fears, and hopes. Become the true King."

"Not this again-"

"You can give yourself the power!" Dewey exclaimed, grabbing Renton by the shoulders. They were now face to face. Dewey's body seemed to grow and warp as he spoke."The power to do what you think is right! What you want! You have only to take it for yourself!"

But Renton wasn't impressed.

"What do you want, Dewey? Why do you keep showing up in my dreams?"

"As I said before," Dewey seemed to retract, his normal appearance returning. "The choice you face is real. I am but the messenger of that choice. I cannot claim to be anything more."

"That's a lie. You're up to something."

Dewey shook his head, a look of pity on his face. "You said yourself that you defeated me, boy. How could a defeated man hope to work his will upon the world? It is folly."

"Never mind that," Renton said. He could feel himself awaking, the world around him dimming and simultaneously growing brighter. "Once I leave this dream, you'll be nothing."

"Beware of judgment, Thurston," Dewey said simply. "Beware of judging too harshly, between dreams and reality. The abstract is but an expression of the self."

Renton woke up.

He had been napping, in the lounge. Eureka's head lay on his shoulder, his head on hers.

Looking out the lounge window, he could see that the Gekko had landed at Tresor. Why hadn't anyone woken them?

"You're awake," came a familiar voice from the stairs.

Renton turned to see Holland sitting on the steps leading up to the bridge.

"Hi, Holland," he said. "We need to talk."

"You know, I was just thinking about the first time we met. Do you remember?"

"At my grandfathers," Renton said. "Why?"

Holland laughed, a low, dry chuckle. "You looked nothing like your father. I couldn't see the family resemblance, you know. Everyone knew what he looked like, and to see you there, a little snot-nosed kid..." He laughed again. "I guess it was a bit of a surprise."

"And I thought you were the coolest guy to walk the planet," Renton nodded. "All those magazines and stuff... When I met you I was in for a surprise too."

Holland winced. "Ouch. I remember. You hated me."

"Mostly. Mostly hated you. There was still a part of me that knew that you really were great."

At this, Holland shook his head. "You're the one the people look up to, really. Not me."

Feeling echoes from his dreams, Renton was quick to squelch this. "No. I mean, we were talking with the other... Rentin and Eurecka, and Eureka too, and they all told me the kind of work you've been doing up here while we were on Earth." He paused, looking around the lounge. Their doppelgangers were nowhere to be seen. "Say, where are they?" he asked.

"Their out on the ground. Doggie was going to teach Eurecka soccer. Keep her away from everything with Mischa."

"What's going to happen to the... to her?"

Holland shrugged. "Talho said something about some words, and then we're going to have to get on with what we're doing. We don't have the luxury of a big funeral."

"I'm sorry Holland, that I wasn't able to... you know, to save her. I thought I could fight off those KLFs in time, but-"

"None of that," Holland said sharply. "We're not going to play this game. She's gone, and it was none of our faults. We've just got to try and take the problems that are thrown at us one at a time."

"Wow, Holland," came Eureka's voice, sleepily. "That was very mature of you."

"Eureka!" Holland and Renton said at the same time. "You're awake," Renton finished.

"A little," she admitted. "So is everyone down on the soccer field?"

"What?" Renton asked. Holland stayed quiet.

"Eurecka's down there..." Eureka said simply, "I can feel her." Then, realizing what she was saying, her eyes widened. "Renton... Oh my gosh, Renton. I can feel her... in my head."

"Holland?" Renton asked, looking at him worriedly.

"Don't look at me," Holland said quickly. Then, looking at Eureka: "What do you mean, feel her?"

"She's there, Holland," Eureka said. "Like part of me that I didn't know was there. She's... she's laughing right now." The coralian girl giggled herself, and then put her hand to her mouth. "I – I didn't mean to do that. That was her laugh."

Renton and Holland shared a look.

"Let's go down to the lab," Holland said. "Whatever they'll be doing with Mischa will start soon, and perhaps with Dr. Bear there, we can figure out some of this bull."

Gently, Renton moved to help Eureka up, but she shrugged off his hand.

"I can get up by myself, Renton. I feel... I feel like I'm full of energy."

She shook her head, then her knees buckled. Renton barely managed to catch her. Taking her out onto the lounge floor, he looked into her face worriedly. "Eureka, are you alright?"

"No, I guess I didn't have as much energy as I thought. I just felt hers... Renton, this is so strange. I don't know what to do."

"Let's just talk to Dr. Bear, okay?"

"Okay."

They and Holland went out through the halls, to the open hangar of the Gekko. It was sunny in Tresor, a brisk wind picking up the long grass where there wasn't developed concrete. The buildings here looked as unassuming and blocky as ever, although Renton knew that they held some of the most precious data in the world.

Doggie, Jobs, Hap, and Eurecka had set up an impromptu soccer field near the outskirts of the labs. Eurecka had on one of the jerseys that had previously belonged to Eureka when she was on the Gekko. They were mostly just passing the ball around, teaching basics. The mysterious girl laughed, and Renton felt his Eureka shudder as she tried to suppress a giggle.

She looked worriedly at him.

The Tresor lab team made quick work of digging a proper grave in only a couple hours. The girls, with the exception of Eurecka, stayed by the casket as much as they could. Gidget spontaneously broke into tears while the rest helped out the lab digging.

All too soon, they brought over a small industrial crane which lifted the casket into the hole in the earth.

"You know, she probably would have preferred cremation. Less mess," Holland muttered to Talho.

She looked at him fiercely. "Do you know that for certain?" she asked.

"Well, no. Just a feeling."

"You can keep it to yourself."

When they had finished covering the grave, Eureka placed a large post she and some of the others had signed at the head of the site. It had all of their names, and at the bottom it said: Here lies MISCHA MOROZOVNA, a beloved colleague, a knowing mentor, and dear friend.

They each said their words. Some of the scientists talked about knowing Mischa back when she worked with them and the military. Mischa's previous partner on the Nirvash and Eureka research program, Sonia Wakabayashi stood up and spoke for a several minutes, eventually having to stop to keep herself from breaking into tears. The head of the facility, Mr. Morita, also spoke very nicely.

Sorely missing, Renton noticed, was Dr. Egan.

All the Gekko members had something to say, Renton included. He talked about how she had always seemed the one in Gekkostate who was the most sane when he first arrived. Who actually seemed to have a plan (here, Holland's eyebrows furrowed); he had seen her as a person who could be trusted more than anything.

Eureka did not speak, but when Renton went back to stand along side her, she buried herself in his arms and cried freely.

Finally, Holland stood up – the last speaker.

"A lot of what everyone has said here is true. And more. Mischa loved to work on problems. When something new or unexpected showed up, she might not show it, but she was always the first one to study it and figure it out. More than that, she kept Gekkostate running, more than I or anyone else ever did. She kept our priorities in order. If one of us was being stupid, she smacked some sense in us and set us on our way. More than I'm comfortable to admit, she's one of the reasons that we – myself especially – can stand in front of you today in one piece. I hope that she keep her curiosity and common sense wherever she is now, because I'm going to need it when I get there."

They cleared out after that, the scientists going back to their projects, and the Gekko crew looking to Holland for assignments. Renton wished there was more time to give Mischa, but apparently, things weren't any more quiet up here these days than they had been before.

Hilda went to look after Matthieu. Jobs and Moondoggie continued to play the game with Eurecka, and Gidget joined them. Stoner stayed on the sidelines of the game, his camera around his neck and a cigarette in his hand. He didn't look pleased about it. Ken-Goh began a complete diagnostic of his ship with the help of some of the Tresor scientists. Holland called Hap over, and then they and the rest went to Dr. Egan's lab.

The lab was just as cluttered and hard to navigate as it had been when Renton had last seen it. The different sections of different projects seemed to criss-cross over each other, creating an amglam of science.

Rentin was sitting in a chair, a series of scientific instruments poking, prodding, and examining him. But Dr. Egan was nowhere to be seen.

"Rentin, where's Dr. Bear?" Holland asked.

The boy looked around, surprised. "He was just here a second ago. I don't know where he is now."

"Great. Right when we need him, he disappears on us," Holland sighed.

"Not quite disappeared," came a voice near Holland's ear. He turned to find the hulking form of Dr. Bear standing right beside him, as if he'd always been there.

"Would you stop doing that!" Holland took two steps back, almost knocking over a delicate-looking instrument holding a potted plant.

"No. Have this," Dr. Egan handed Renton a small candy that he had seen many times before. Where did the doctor get all these, anyway?

"You didn't say anything for Mischa," Talho said accusingly.

"We already said goodbye in our own way," Dr. Egan said simply, moving over to his instruments around Rentin. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"It was rude," Talho continued.

"It was my decision. Now, are you going to stand around here and talk all day, or would you like me to tell you what I've found out?"

"Well, we did come here for your opinion," Hap said to the doctor, looking complaisantly at Talho. "Maybe we should listen to what he has to say, huh?"

Talho sat in a nearby chair with a huff.

"Now, what is it you've found, Dr. Egan?" Hap asked.

The doctor held up a stubby finger. "One: that you don't have much time left."

"And what do you mean by that?" Holland asked.

Another finger rose. "Two: that I have two possible outcomes for the problem."

"We don't even know what the problem is, yet!" Renton complained.

Dr. Egan looked at him. "I will offer my findings in whatever order I want, thank you very much." Then, without taking his eyes off of Renton, he continued. "Either their brains and collective standing consciousness will be able to take the strain, or it won't."

"Who's what?" Hap asked.

"Enough of this bull!" Holland said, storming up to Dr. Egan. "Either you tell us what you know, or you don't. I've had more than enough happen recently, and I don't need you being cryptic for whatever reason on top of it!"

"The Eurekas will most likely die," Dr. Egan said.

…...

Dominic sat on the roof of the main Tresor lab, looking out at the horizon. This part of the world was wide open more than anything. No mountains capturing the horizon. Hills, at the utmost.

"Have you spoken to Eureka yet?" he asked. Anemone didn't respond for a long moment.

"No, no I haven't. I don't intend to."

He turned to look at her, there, sitting alongside him. She was wearing practical pants, and her hair was tied back more than usual. That was generally a bad sign.

"You've been avoiding her since she got here, I've noticed. She won't bite, you know," he reassured. "I've talked to her a little, and she's... well, she's sort of sweet in a bland way."

There, Anemone smiled. "You're just saying that."

"Well, she's not as interesting as you anyway."

The Gekko had arrived in the early afternoon. Now things were edging on towards twilight. Dominic personally disliked this time. He always felt better in the mornings. Twilights reminded him of endings... of thing he'd rather forget.

"Oh, Dominic!" Anemone hit her fist, hard on the roof. "Why am I such a coward? I've fought her a dozen times! Why should I be scared to just have a face-to-face chat? I can't stand how nervous I am!"

She grabbed at her hair. Seeing the warnings, Dominic moved closer, holding her to him. After a moment, she relaxed.

"I can't stand it," Anemone repeated. She rested against Dominic for a while in silence, closing her eyes.

"I understand what you're feeling, really," Dominic finally said. "All these months without them, I'd built them up in my head. Even Renton, although I've met him more than once." He turned to look down at Anemone, who was resting in his lap. "But they're just people. No matter what history you have with them, they won't hold it against you. They're not that kind of person."

"How do you manage to be so infuriatingly calm all the time?" Anemone wondered aloud. "You always seem to know what to do."

Dominic laughed. Perhaps one of the best laughs he'd had in a long while. "Anemone, if there's one thing I am not, it's the guy who 'always seems to know what to do'. I thought you would have known that a long time ago."

"I don't know," Anemone said, sitting up . She looked a little offended. "You always seem to manage okay. Always bailed me out when I needed it."

"I sort of tripped my way around!" Dominic said, still trying to catch his breath. "The only reason I did the right thing in the end was because they sent me to go pick up your replacement. Really, I didn't know what to do any more than anyone else."

Anemone stood up. "You did do the right thing in the end, though."

"No thanks to you," Dominic grinned. "Trying to blow the whole cluster up."

Her eyebrows furrowed. She turned around and stormed off the roof, down the fire escape.

"No! Anemone!" Dominic couldn't repress his smile. "Stop! I was joking!"

"That was hurtful!" Anemone called back up to him, climbing down the iron ladder.

This statement, in light of thinking of all the 'hurtful' things she had ever said to him set Dominic off into laughing again.

"You horrible, horrible person!" she yelled, dropping to the ground and walking away.

Finally managing to stop himself, Dominic jumped onto the fire escape and worked his way down. When he got to the ground, he saw Anemone had walked a fair distance in the direction of the Gekko.

"Wait!" he jogged to catch up with her, but seeing him behind her, she sped up and ran out towards the ship.

By the time he caught up with her, they were already almost to the Gekko.

"You always... were faster than me..." Dominic said, gasping for breath. "I was never conditioned... for running."

"That's because you were a dweeb before you met me," Anemone grinned fiercely. "Is that soccer game still going?"

The two looked over past the Gekko.

"It would appear so," Dominic said.

They moved closer. The game had attracted the attention of more people since they had last seen it. Almost all of the Gekko crew who weren't with Holland were out on the field, with the exception of Ken-Goh. Half a dozen scientists were playing, too. They had managed to set up two goals out of wooden posts that were lying in the scrap heap behind the labs.

"Well, it's good that they're getting exercise," Dominic said. "However, this would mean that the Gekko is nearly empty. I could get a lot of work-" He turned to look at Anemone, but found that she had already bounded out to the field. "Anemone!"

He went closer, thoughts of backed-up work instantly lost.

"Can we join in?" Anemone called out.

A dozen voices answered the affirmative. Anemone laughed. It was her bad laugh, Dominic found.

"Come on!" she ran back to him, kicking off the pants she was wearing. She had on shorts underneath, thank goodness. Dominic's cheeks colored. "Let's jump into the game!"

"I... I think I'll stay here. Talk to Stoner," he said slowly.

She made a pouting face, but didn't argue. After she ran off to join the match, with much hand waving and shouting, Dominic moved over to join the only observer.

"Hello," he said in greeting, sitting next to the photographer. He didn't know Stoner as well as a lot of the other Gekko crew, honestly. But he had seen him around.

"Why hey," Stoner said nonchalantly. "What brings you to this contest of champions?"

"Just following the girl with the pink hair," he said, smiling slightly. "As always."

"Yeah? How long have you two been together, now?"

"Well, it would be a little over a year, really. I mean, sort of. We got together around the Second Summer, you know. I'll probably never know the exact time when we both knew it-"

"Love is like that sometimes," Stoner nodded. "Appears out of nowhere, like flame in a vacuum. Problem with vacuums is you have no point of reference. So it seems like it's always been there. Until it goes out, anyway."

"...How cheery," Dominic said dryly. Stoner shrugged, and took a picture of the soccer match with the large, expensive looking camera around his neck.

"Would you mind standing over me for a second?" Stoner asked. "I'm getting too much glare up into the lens from the sun off of my shorts."

Dominic dutifully got up and stood between Stoner and the sun. "Like this?"

"Yeah, just stand there for a little while. I'll tell you when it's okay to move."

While he stood watching the game, he noticed Eurecka running up and down the field. Her hair was in some sort of elaborate braid that kept it around shoulder-length, but it was so thick that it kept bobbing up and down ridiculously as she ran.

"What do you think of all this, Stoner?" Dominic asked, his mind wandering. "I mean, all of it. The situation we're in. Have been in. Probably will be too, now that I think of it. I mean, do normal people's lives involve girls of a different species, and-or dimension that randomly show up? Or are we just lucky?"

"You can ask yourself into circles with those kinds of questions," Stoner said after a while. "Believe me. I have."

"But I mean, think about it. I was just a normal officer. Raised into the military. Never had any parents that I ever knew. Just minding my own business, climbing through the ranks when this coralian girl with pink hair and a deathwish for me and everyone around her breaks into my life. Didn't ask for the position. I was chosen. By whom? By what?"

"Destiny, maybe," Stoner postulated, tilting the camera to a different angle. "Call it the Fates, if you're into that sort of thing. A lot of people like to say, scientists especially, that everything just sort of happens, and that's that. But nobody really believes that, deep down. The fact is that there's a whole crazy world of stories out there, of moments and pictures and people we'll never know. And they didn't just appear out of nowhere. They were orchestrated. Mankind has known this since before the Coralian event."

"I didn't know you were a religious man."

"Don't have to be religious to believe in something more than yourself. You think you've got free will? That's great. But the way I see it, we're a lot more like the coralians, heck, even the LFOs than we like to think. Machines, or base organisms driven by the instinct of a primordial power, pushing us towards some higher goal. We never know what it is until we're there."

"Then all this with the Renton and Eureka from a different reality?"

"It doesn't surprise me that there's other stories out there. After all, if you were to hold an experiment, wouldn't you put in more than one trial?"

"I don't-"

"Listen," Stoner continued unabated, "all I'm saying is that if you told me when I was a kid everything that would ever happen to me, I would call you crazy. Same for every other person in the world. Destiny isn't the design of some grand being, necessarily. It's the impossible happening every day, all around you. It's like pebbles falling into a stream and forming the bedrock. It's ineffable."

The two were quiet for a while. The sound of the engines of the Gekko trying to turn on sounded behind them, followed by a small explosion and much cursing. The game continued.

"You always talk like that, don't you?"

"Chicks dig guys that are deep."

Shaking his head, Dominic moved closer to the field, trying to get a better picture for how it was all turning out. Impromptu teams had formed, broken up, and reformed. Anemone and Eurecka were on one team, though. That was for certain. For all the dread she seemed to show to talking to the coralian girl – the only one of her kind, more or less, Anemone showed no problems in getting to know the girl from another dimension at all.

Although Dominic did notice that Eurecka kept a wary eye on Anemone from time to time. _She may be naïve_, Dominic thought to himself, _but she's not dumb. _

Suddenly, he could see something was wrong. Eurecka was keeling over, and Moondoggie was running over to help her. Dominic found that he was running over, too. Pretty soon, the entire group was clustered around the blue-headed girl.

"Hold on a second, guys!" Moondoggie tried to motion for the crowd to step back. "Give her some space, will ya'?"

Eurecka had fallen to the ground, her legs collapsed out from under her. She was still sitting up, though, which was a good sign. Dominic stepped forward.

"I have some basic first aid training."

A scientist spoke up that he, too, had some first aid experience. The pair of them stepped over and took Moondoggie's place.

"Eurecka?" Dominic knelt beside her, while the other man took her hand, feeling her pulse. "Are you there?"

"My head... hurts," she said. "I... I don't feel so good."

Then, without warning, her head shot back, her eyes wide and looking at the sky. "What-" Dominic started, but then Eurecka began speaking again.

"So much... so much thought," Eurecka was saying. Then, she went rigid. "Renton!" she cried. "Renton, keep the kids safe! I had to do this, Renton! Goodbye, we can't let Dewey win. Pleaseohplease don't let him win..."

Then, she collapsed. Dominic caught her in his arms.

"Is she conscious?" the other man asked? "Her pulse is elevated, I'm sure of it."

Dominic looked into her eyes under the eyelids. "She's okay, I think. But she's out cold. Do you all have a facility that we can take her to?"

"Sure," the man said. "Bogdi, Leszcek, what's your name – Rosinski, go get the medical ward prepared for this girl, huh?" The men he pointed to ran off to comply. Jobs, as well, ran after them to help.

"We're going to need to lift her," Dominic said, "but I think we should keep her vertical. Here, I'll hold her upright, you hold on to her legs."

The other man nodded.

"What can we do?" Gidgit asked. Some of the other Gekko crew murmured their agreement. Anemone said nothing.

"For now?" Dominic said. "Go tell Holland, or Talho. Actually, probably better if you tell Talho. Also, it might be best to let Rentin know, because he'll go beserk if he finds out later, or else I've never met a Thurston."

Gidgit nodded, and ran off in the direction of Dr. Egan's lab.

…...

The crew of the Gekko stared at him.

"I mean, it's just a hypothesis, but-" Dr. Egan began, but Holland cut him off.

"Wait a second, doctor. Why don't you explain this hypothesis from the beginning, huh?"

The doctor sighed, and moved over to a chair – when he sat down, the chair literally groaned under his weight.

"Early today I took some tests on... well, shall we call her Eureka Subject 2? I found several interesting things, not the least of which is the fact that they are conclusively out of phase with our physical reality – the two of them, Subject 2 of both Eureka and Renton."

"I have a question," Eureka asked, raising a hand. "Why is Rentin so quiet?"

Dr. Egan looked back at Rentin in the chair as if just noticing he was there. The boy's eyes were open, but dull, as if far away. His body sat rigidly upright in the chair.

"Oh, I just gave him a sedative and a muscle activating agent. The best of both worlds in regards to putting someone under for examination." Looking at Eureka's reaction, he amended: "It's not going to hurt him. Just keep him sedated."

"You were saying about Eurecka?" Talho prodded.

"Yes, well," Dr. Egan sat back in the chair again. "Although it would probably be too complex to explain here at the moment, I will try and simplify: essentially, a series of factors and signs that comprise what some call a person's 'aura' or biological signature are off on the Subject 2s. Their signatures do not belong here, in this world. They are simply mismatched, like a puzzle piece that got mixed up in the wrong box."

"But why is that so dangerous to them?" Holland snapped.

"It's not. Not to Renton Subject 2, anyway. His body is more or less reacting normally with our environment, although I believe that he is slightly more susceptible to the common cold. The difference is with Eureka. Subject 1."

The girl in question looked taken aback. "But... what did I do?" she asked.

"It's not something you're doing consciously," Dr. Egan continued, standing up now and pacing across the cluttered floor. "You can't help it. You are fundamentally of a coralian make-up in both physiology and therefore metaphysical signature. The parts of you that are more basely coralian have detected a connected 'aura' – that of Subject 2, and like any cluster, want to absorb it and communicate with it. Therefore, the two of you – both subjects, are slowly becoming more connected in what we would call body and mind."

"Is there any way to stop the process?" Hap asked.

"Subject 2's system is already doing that. What you might call her metaphysical antibodies are already rejecting the parts of Eureka that have tried to meld with her. But unfortunately, there's simply not enough research in this area for me to know which side is winning. That is what generates the two possible outcomes: either the power of Eureka's coralian energy will mold the two subjects until they are one person, or else Subject 2's 'aura' will defend itself, and probably kill both of them in the struggle."

There was silence.

"Is there anything we can do?" Holland asked.

"Well, that's where the problem lies, isn't it?" Dr. Egan said after a moment's contemplation. "We have to send them back to where they're out of range of Eureka's extrasensory detection. And, naturally, that could only entail moving them back to their world. But there's very little research in that area other than myth..."

"Myth?" Renton wondered aloud.

"Well, you are aware that Tresor has been very active in exploration of the Earth, following your Second Summer of Love. We have found evidence there of a culture that developed late in the development of humanity – before they left and returned to find the planet 'anew'. This culture believed in the existence of many worlds to which humanity could escape to. Evidence has been found of this cult lasting well into the resettlement of the Earth under Coralian control. In fact, I believe there was a temple not far from-"

"Look, can you find a way to send them back to their own world? Yes or no?" Holland demanded.

Dr. Egan looked at Holland over the rims of his tiny glasses. "I have to do more research. I don't think you understand what kind of resources it took to figure this much out."

"How much... how much time do we have before this all happens?" Renton asked, looking worriedly at Eureka.

"Like, I said, it's hard to tell at this point," Dr. Egan continued. "But I would recommend sending them back within twenty-four hours, before any irreversible damage happens."

"Alright, fine – so long as you give us a way to fix this before then. We're probably going to be here for the next couple hours finishing repairs," Holland said. "But you had better try and research this quick, Doc. I'm not going to have any more deaths aboard my ship."

"Renton, Eureka," Talho turned to the two of them as Holland stormed out of the room. "I want the both of you to go talk to the men working on the Gekko, see how much longer the repairs are going to take."

"Alright," Renton said, leading a pale and silent Eureka out of the room, and went out into the concrete space between some of the lab buildings. The Gekko was visible just over the crest of the largest lab, the sun cresting just above the ship.

"I feel terrible about this, Renton," Eureka said, as they walked down the lab steps onto the concrete. "Eurecka could die, and it's all my fault."

"But you heard what he said," Renton said consolingly, "you can't help it. It's just part of who you are."

"It's so strange," Eureka continued almost as if she hadn't heard. "I can see now what I didn't before. The same pull... the same connection I feel with Eurecka was there with the scub coral. It feels almost the same. I could feel the scub coral's thoughts sometimes, like waves on a beach. They ebbed into me, and it's the same feeling now."

"Don't worry," Renton tried again. "We'll find a way to fix it. Dr. Egan's the smartest person we know, right?"

Eureka nodded. Then, she looked even more worried. "But I'm going to start changing before that, aren't I? It's already started. She's going to be... melded to me."

Then the girl blinked. Her head twitched, as if trying to shake away a bad dream. "Oh... Renton," she said, her voice sounding far away, "my head is opening up... trying to pour things into hers. I can... feel it."

Renton grabbed a hold of her, and looked into her eyes. "Try fighting it, Eureka! Try to stop what's happening!"

Tears came to her eyes. Her wings were moving nervously, as if disturbed by a passing wind. "I can't, Renton, it's more powerful than me. I... I can't."

"Somebody!" Renton called, desperate now as Eureka shook like a leaf in his arms. "Somebody help me!"

Talho and Hap quickly came running out of the building. Talho didn't ask any questions, only taking Eureka's other arm and leading her to the lab stairs. Then, with Renton's help, she pushed the girl down into a sitting position, where she wouldn't be able to fall over.

"Eureka?" Talho looked into Eureka's eyes as well, "Eureka, are you there?"

"I think... I think so..." she said. Then, she let out a low groan. "But I can't... I can't move."

"It's alright," Talho said, smiling wanly. "We're here with you. Just hold on."

"But it... it hurts now," the coralian girl continued. "It hurts. She's not close enough. I need her closer."

"Who?" Hap asked, kneeling down as well. "Who do you need."

But Talho put a hand to her mouth. "Eurecka. You need Eurecka closer to you, is that it?"

Eureka nodded.

"Hap, go find Eurecka. I have a feeling she's going to be experiencing some of these symptoms as well. It's possible we've got to keep them closer together, or else they'll be in pain."

"She's probably still at the game," Hap said, turning in that direction. He promptly was knocked down by Gidgit, who ran face-first into him.

"Gidgit! It's Eurecka, isn't it?" Talho said without missing a beat.

After pulling herself off of the groaning Hap, she nodded. "Yep. Something bad happened to her, Talho. She looked like she was real hurt, and then started yelling things about Dewey!"

Talho nodded. "I thought so. Who's got her?"

"One of the scientists and Dominic are carrying her to the medical ward or something like that."

Renton and Talho made eye contact, and Talho nodded. Moving carefully, they managed to hoist Eureka up, cradling her between them.

"Alright, then that's where we should take Eureka, too," Renton said.

"I know where it is," Talho said. "Let's go, quickly. Hap, I want Rentin safe out of Dr. Egan's lab within the next hour, and a better recommendation on how we're going to fix all this. You make sure of it."

Hap groaned in acknowledgment, still on the ground.

As they carried Eureka, they saw a large gunship with the colors of Warsaw landing next to the Gekko, but Renton didn't see anything other than that. Some of the scientists ran up to them and asked if they needed any help, but by that time they were already half way there.

The medical ward was a small room that looked like it had once been a conference room. There was still a large whiteboard along one wall, but now there were two beds and a medical table. The first was clean, and looked disused.

The second, Renton saw as he and Talho carried in Eureka, was occupied by her doppelganger. Eurecka was clearly unconscious, and if he wasn't so sure that it would have showed on Eureka, he would have thought the girl with the long hair was dead. But one of the lab personnel ushered them over to the first bed, and they lay Eureka down on it.

"How is she?" Talho asked, nodding over to Eurecka.

The man shrugged. "She's stable, but catatonic. We believe it's from shock."

Dominic moved over to them as soon as he saw them, and addressed Talho.

"There were no signs until she went into the fit," he said. "Then she started babbling something about Dewey, and went unconscious. We brought her here right afterwards."

"Dewey?" Renton said, staying by Eureka's side. "But has she even met him? Is he in that world too?"

"Renton," Talho said slowly, "I think that was Eureka's memories bleeding over.

"Eureka said something about that," Renton frowned, looking down at Eureka, who was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.

"On top of that," Dominic agreed, "I imagine meeting someone like Dewey in any world would not have left Eurecka with that personality of hers intact. She has the heart of a child."

They were quiet for a moment, and waited as the doctor attached to the lab examined Eureka.

"She should be fine," he said. "She's just like the other girl. In shock, I mean. Except that her system has obviously gone through this kind of ordeal before – she's still conscious. She should be with us again before too long. Just keep her company."

He moved back to Eurecka, using more advanced equipment to make certain that she was alright.

The Gekko members that hadn't already arrived soon showed up, but were made to wait outside by the lab ward attendants. Finally, Holland's voice came from out in the hall.

"Listen. If you don't let me in, I will make my own way in, and I bet you're not too keen on spending some time in those beds yourself, huh? Now let me see them."

Talho moved over to the door. "It's alright, sir. He can come in for a few moments. Holland, play nice."

Holland came in and stood between the beds of both Eurekas.

"How are they? I just heard – I went to the main lab to radio Jurgens, and then they said that both of them had had some sort of fit..."

"It's true," Talho nodded. "It was just like Dr. Egan said. Eureka complained of being too far away from, well, Eurecka. She said it hurt."

"She was saying something about her mind, too," Renton said. He had been sitting on Eureka's bed, holding her hand, but now he stood up. "About her mind pouring into Eurecka's. I heard her."

"And that matches with what Dominic told us," Talho finished. "He said that Eurecka started yelling about something we don't think ever happened to her."

"What was it?"

"Dewey."

Holland's face darkened. "I see," I said. "So then I guess they're... combining mentally? Where's Dr. Bear when you need him?"

"Right here," came the voice of the scientist. And he was, his bulk standing right over Eureka, although Renton was certain he hadn't seen him come in. Again.

"I knew that would get you to come," Holland smiled viciously. "Now talk."

"It's just like I said," Dr. Egan shrugged. "Their minds are starting to mold into one, Eureka's overpowering Subject 2's, although I wouldn't dismiss some kind of backlash from Subject 2's memories, either."

"And the pain from being apart?"

The doctor nodded. "It will slowly become intolerable for them to be apart physically. And then they will literally mold together."

"There's got to be some way we can get Eurecka and Rentin back to where they came from," Renton said. "Dr. Bear, there's got to be something."

"Speaking of which," Talho wondered aloud, "where is Rentin, anyway?"

There was a commotion in the hallway. Rentin burst in, any attempts to stop him from saturating the already filled room were woefully unprepared.

He knelt down next to Eurecka, taking her hand. He was silent for several moments, pressing his forehead against hers.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"Rentin, it looks like if we're not careful," Talho began, "well, that is... if we're not fast enough..."

"Eurecka and Eureka will become one person," Holland finished bluntly. Talho gave him a look.

Rentin looked like he was processing the information. Then: "How can we stop it?"

"The only way is to get you both back to your own world," Talho said solemnly. "We don't know how, yet, but we're working on it."

"Ah. Right. Working on it," Dr. Bear said, as if he'd just heard the idea for the first time.

"Yeah, so why don't you-" Holland began, but then he looked around. Dr. Egan was gone. "One day, he's going to tell me how he does that," he grumbled under his breath.

There was the sound of shouting outside.

"What now?" Holland said angrily. He moved over to the doorway.

Without warning, a head of auburn hair popped into view.

"I need to speak with Novak," Annika said without preamble. "I need to speak with him now."

"So, you're from the Warsaw ship, huh?" Holland said, crossing his hands over his chest. "You can tell Jurgens that I'm unavailable. I-" then, he stopped. Curiously, Holland peered closer at Annika, and then looked down at the uniform. Then, back up into her face. "Annika? Annika Schwarz?"

"Yes, Holland," she rolled her eyes. "I'm glad your powers of observation are as astounding as ever. You even managed to remember my name. I'm touched."

"You..." Holland stepped back in disbelief. Talho stood up. "You look different. I mean, you looked great before. Now you're-"

Annika put a hand on her hip. "Now I'm what, Holland?"

"Leaving," Talho stepped up between the two of them. "Deliver your message."

"So, you must be the flavor of the month," Annika said shortly. "Sorry. Ms. Yuki."

"That's actually Mrs," Talho responded in the same, steely tone. "To you, anyway."

Biting back what obviously would have been a retort, she turned to Holland. "The Chancellor needs you, Holland Novak. Warsaw is under attack. Kebrenac and Brosendell are assaulting us on two fronts, flanking our KLFs and surrounding our bases. At the rate they're moving they'll have captured Warsaw tower by midnight.

"What does Jurgens want me to do about it?"

"He said you're the best there is. I didn't countermand him."

"Of course not, he's your Chancellor, right?"

"You know what I mean."

"We can't fight off a whole army."

"You wouldn't have to," Annika said, moving further into the room. She cast a glance at the two Eurekas in the room, confusion on her face, but then snapped back to reality. "We just need to break them. Let them know that they'd be paying too much for their gains. We're going to lose territory at this point, but we can minimize the damage to Warsaw proper."

"And how does Jurgens plan to do that?" Holland leaned against the wall, looking at Annika with the faintest hint of amusement.

"There's a mothership. A control battlecruiser that is coordinating the attacks from the front. The field commander is using it as a hammer against our heaviest defenses. If we can take it down, we can break up the offensive. At the very least, we can slow them down to a crawl."

"One last question: why did he send you of all people?"

"I was in the area. I didn't volunteer, if that's what you're asking."

Holland seemed to consider this for a moment. Talho looked like she had something to say, but instead went over to the table next to Eureka's bed. She grabbed a towel, wet it in the bowl of water that was placed there, and wrung it angrily.

"We can't," Holland finally said. "You'll have to stop it on your own."

"Novak, are you out of your mind?" Annika argued. "The battle will destroy Warsaw if we don't stop the army before it reaches the city. Those people have only just rebuilt their lives from the civil wars. If it's destroyed now, Warsaw won't ever rise from the ashes again."

"We don't have a choice," Holland continued as if he hadn't heard. "These girls here will die if we're not careful. I'm not leaving them, and I'm not letting them die." He turned to Renton. "I've almost let that happen far too many times already."

"You don't understand," Annika said. "This lab facility – all of Tresor – is right in the path of the Brosendell advance. It'll be crushed, and this lab claimed as a prize. These girls don't stand any better chance here if we don't break the enemies initiative."

For a moment, Renton thought he saw something strange: Dewey's face, hanging in the corner of the room. It had been barely a skull covered in flesh, almost stretching out from the wall. But when he blinked, it was gone.

Holland brought his fist against the wall. "Dammit!"

"Holland-" Talho started, "I can take care of Eureka here. You go in the Gekko. Take everyone you need. We'll be fine here while you're gone, if you're quick about it."

He turned to her. "But... Talho-"

She shook her head. "Think about it. We can't do anything for them until Dr. Egan figures it out anyway. There's no need for you to be here. I can handle it, and you go take them out."

Holland nodded. "I'll leave Charles with you."

"You had better," Talho said, moving over to the door where Holland was standing. "I'll get him, and you can rally everyone."

"I'll inform the Chancellor that you'll be helping," Annika said, moving towards the door.

Both Holland and Talho left. Before Annika could, Renton grabbed a hold of her sleeve. Rentin moved between the two Eureka's, giving them words of comfort.

"You know Holland?" he asked plaintively. "How? Why didn't you tell me?"

Annika looked as if she'd rather be somewhere else. Anywhere else. "Yes, I knew him, Renton."

"But... how?"

She sighed. "It was another life. I was a competitive ref-boarder. Holland was the returning champion, I was the prodigy challenger. He was older than me by half. I was the first person to ever defeat him. After that, we became rivals."

"You said you never ref-boarded!"

"It's a life I've left behind. I don't talk about it."

"But why not?" Renton demanded. "Why all these lies?"

Annika shook her head. "I have to go report. I don't have time for this." She moved to go.

Renton caught her by the sleeve again. When he touched her, she rounded on him.

"We became friends, okay? We were kids! We met again after everything happened with Diane. One thing led to another." She looked away. "It was a mistake. Holland wanted to make things more permanent, and my life was a mess as it was. So one day, I left. Went to go live with a friend. I didn't want anyone to remember me, so I joined the military. I could start over. Make something of myself."

"Oh," Renton said. Even Rentin was staring at Annika. What else was there to say?

"Yeah, 'oh'," Annika mocked. Then, she pulled herself away from Renton and stormed out the door.

Renton and his counterpart shared a look.

"Women," Rentin said.

Renton nodded.

…...

The Tresor lab was a mess. The water levels on the island's east side – almost touching the complex now, had risen perilously close to the labs themselves. There was debris littered by the waves – trees from neighboring islands, plastic boxes and bottles, remnants of the nearly lost civilizations of Earth – all washed up along the coast, and some even in the lab complex itself. It must have flooded within the last couple days. Some of the scientists and citizens of the island hunted for useable or valuable scrap along the beaches: most of Tresor's livelihood came from trade with ships from other islands nowadays, either material or scientific.

The Gekko swooped low along the water, aiming for the landing strip that was almost swallowed up by the encroaching waves. They left a large wake behind them, causing large waves to smash against the coast.

Holland quickly assigned all of the crew to lay out the anchors they had installed, and to set about what repairs could be managed. A month or two after the Flood, they had spent what remained of their extra resources on installing updates to the Gekko to make it sea-worthy, or at least floating. But Holland would prefer it if his ship stayed on the island, so they had also added three anchors that could keep the Gekko where it was in case of any more flooding.

After that, he had Woz put the fridge with the L-17-10 in it onto a small rolling rig they had constructed, and with Woz, Talho, and his cane, they went out the hangar bay.

Sonia was waiting for them with a small team of researchers.

"The military came by a day ago," Sonia said to Woz as soon as they got close. "Accused us of taking the L-17-10. They know we've been after using it in the past. Lucky for us, you took so long to get back here."

"We tried to get back as soon as we could," Woz said, apologetically, pushing the cart that carried their precious cargo. "We took some damage to our KLFs during the raid – we had to take the long way around to avoid patrols.

"Yes," Sonia nodded, "well, you saved our lives, anyway. I swear, the military gets more desperate every day to stave off deserters. The other day I heard that a whole base up and sold their KLFs to a neighboring island and used the profits to start a conclave."

"Society's changing," Woz agreed. "People have to rely on each other more these days."

"Well, I assume that's part of why you're here," Sonia said, looking at the fridge. "I assume the material's in there? The L-17-10?"

"It wasn't easy to... procure," Holland said, stepping forward. "We would appreciate it if we could get everything moving as fast as possible, before anyone comes looking for us."

There was a murmur of agreement from the other scientists. "Our thoughts exactly," Sonia said. "Follow me. We should be able to set everything up fairly quickly."

The group was led back towards the lab. The complex was set up in a roughly semi-circular shape, with the apex of the semi-circle facing the ocean. At the inside heart of the curve was a large hill, with more hills forming the backbone of the island behind it. From what Holland had seen from the air, there was a town on the other side of the hills where the scientists, their families, and the rest of the populace lived.

"You're lucky you arrived this early in the day," Sonia continued as they walked. "The town just elected a new mayor, and he's been... meddling in lab affairs. He doesn't come out and visit the lab until later in the day, though. We should be able to get the L-17-10 settled before he arrives."

"We can pose as traders if it makes things easier for you," Talho said quickly. She was walking on the left side of the cart to make sure it didn't fall over on that side. Holland walked on the other side, keeping the only hand he had available on the cart to steady it, and Woz pushed.

"Yes, I was thinking that would make things easier," Sonia nodded.

"Alright, then how long do you think this is all going to take, Doctor?" Holland asked.

"Oh, I shouldn't think very long," she said. "All the equipment's already set up, for the most part. Well, our part of the equipment. The infrastructure was set up before that."

Holland was about to ask what she meant, but then he noticed the path they were taking. They weren't going to the main lab, as he had expected. Instead, they were following a path that curved away from the labs, and towards the hills.

"Where are we going?" Holland asked, cautiously.

"I was just about to the same thing," Woz spoke up.

Sonia looked back at them. "To the experiment site, of course. Where else?"

"But, wasn't this all going to happen in a lab?" Holland tried.

"At the very least," Woz supported him, "that's where the equipment would be, isn't it?"

"Don't need much equipment," Sonia said, this time with an air of finality. "We're going to install it in the apparatus we've built, but there's no other equipment needed, really."

"Alright, now you've peaked my curiosity," Woz said after a moment.

"You wouldn't be leading us into a trap of some kind, would you?" Holland asked, bluntly.

Sonia turned an evil eye at him. "Don't insult me. We were never supposed to do any more experiments at this site, I hope you know. I can't tell you how much convincing it took to get everyone to agree to this."

"Even then," one of the scientists from the front of the group of five walking with them spoke up, "we're not sure it's ethical."

There was some agreement among the other scientists. One of them stepped back from the group to take a look at the L-17-10. "But, of course, everything's different now," he said. "No such thing as Protocol, really. We do whatever projects can keep this island safe and fed, now."

"And we're all taking time off from that to help you," Sonia finished.

"We don't want to cause trouble," Talho said.

"Well, you're already here and you have the material, so we might as well go through with it," Sonia smiled. "We had bets on whether you'd get this far. Your chances weren't very good. Incidentally..." she reached into her pocket and pulled out two computer chips, walking back to where Woz was and placing them in one of his pockets, "I won those for you. You can probably use an upgrade to the Gekko, I should think. At the very least, keep the components from running dry for another few years."

"Thanks again for all this, Sonia," Woz said. "I... We all really appreciate it."

"Right, well, you can save that until after it works," she mumbled.

The path curved in a snaking pattern up the hill, and Talho and Woz switched off pushing the cart. Sonia walked alongside it now, where Talho had been. Holland felt like a third wheel for not being able to push the thing, but when he suggested it, Talho looked pointedly at his leg.

"I'm not going to have you breaking it twice," she said.

He didn't argue.

By the time they got up to the top of the path, the sun was full in the sky. Looking back, Holland could see them pulling out Matthieu's 606 – it was incredibly mangled, and they had barely managed to get most of it into the Gekko after the raid on the military base. Maybe if they-

"Holland, are you listening?" Talho's voice brought him back to reality.

"What?"

"We're going to need to lift the cart down some steps," Sonia addressed. Holland noticed one of the scientists standing behind him. "Pyotr will take it from here."

"Right," Holland moved aside and let him, a gray haired, serious man with a square jaw, take his place. The group, holding all four sides of the cart, lifted it with a little effort.

"Amazing to think how dense this material is," Pyotr muttered. Sonia nodded.

"Makes it a lot more heavy than it looks, I'll bet," she said.

"So that's what it was," Woz shook his head. "I was worried that I need to work out more. Felt heavy to me."

Sonia eyed him. "The working out idea isn't bad, though," she said thoughtfully.

They neared an entrance into the hill, where the path ended. From here Holland could see steps, down into the belly of the rock. There were signs that warned in several languages not to go beyond this point. That it was iradiated.

"And it's not dangerous for us to be in here?" Holland asked.

Some of the scientists looked at the sign and laughed. Sonia explained: "It's mostly safe inside. Mostly. The sign is just to scare away the locals. It's been very effective thus far."

"Hm."

Holland walked in front of the cart with the group of scientists. Slowly, the light from outside faded, replaced only by hanging, crude lamps in the ceiling ever ten feet or so. Holland looked down at his feet, trying to stay mobile with only one leg.

_Dammit_, he thought. It's always my leg. _Whenever I get shot, or break anything, it's my leg. It'd be nice for a change every once I a while. _

After the tunnel seemed to curve around and down several times, Sonia requested for a pause. Then, she and Talho carefully switched carrying with two of the other scientists. Talho walked with Holland as they went further into the hill.

"You alright?" Holland asked quietly. "Looks tough, carrying that thing."

"Holland, don't talk to me about carrying anything until you've had a baby," she retorted. Then, she turned to Sonia. "How long has all this been here? The steps look old."

She was right. As Holland looked, he could see that the steps, although well-kept, were well worn and at least fifty years old.

"A long time," Sonia said simply. Then, to stave off further questions: "You'll see what I mean."

They switched bearers twice more before they arrived at the base of the tunnel. There were no lights further ahead as the tunnel widened out, and the party stopped in front of total darkness.

"How deep are we?" Woz asked. "I counted 2,731 steps, give or take one or two."

"We're in the bedrock of... well, the island now," Sonia said. "Used to be that this place exited out to the valley to the west. We had to block it up to make sure the Flood didn't get it."

"Is there any danger of that block breaking?" Talho asked.

"I said this place was mostly safe, didn't I?"

She moved over to the wall and flipped a switch. One by one, the gas lights popped alive, and Holland's eyes widened.

The cavern was immense. It could have held an entire lab building, perhaps three. And scattered everywhere were ruins: ancient carved columns, markings painted and carved into the walls, gates, staircases, and plazas.

"It's a city," he breathed. Talho moved closer to him and grabbed a hold of his hand.

"Right. That's what we thought too, originally," Sonia said. "But fairly soon we learned that wasn't quite right either."

"What do you mean?" Woz asked, taking a closer examination at a nearby pillar. The lamps that lit the area were strung everywhere – over ruins of old temples, columns and wherever the wire could be strung.

"Well, the stone in here isn't original to this area. Before the floor, there were two historic quarries in the valley nearby. This stone-" she gestured to the cavern in general, "isn't from either of them. As near as we can predict, well, it's from somewhere else."

"You mean the other world."

"We certainly hope so," one of the scientists said.

Pyotr nodded. "Or else a lot of research will be rendered completely and totally false."

Some of the scientists laughed nervously. Sonia smiled grimly.

"This is part of why we agreed to help you," she admitted. "We're operating on a running theory that the barrier between the worlds is weakest here, for whatever reason. We believe that this community may have been an echo of that world, if not a full blown migration."

"I can't believe this," Holland said after a long while. "All of the effort that went into what became the Agony... It was already accomplished by someone else."

"Perhaps," Sonia said. "We don't know all the details. One thing for certain is that last time, you didn't have this-" she patted the fridge, "and maybe they did."

"People who built things like this place couldn't have had access to such a raw and unstable element," Woz shook his head. "The requirements for containment alone-"

"Well, let's try and see if it works, anyway," Sonia smiled. She gestured to the other scientists. "Move it to the apparatus, let's see if we can even install everything properly."

"You're not sure?" Holland asked.

"We haven't exactly worked with L-17-10 before. Not precisely. We worked with a different material..." In response to Holland's face, she amended: "But it's the same base element. It was just a slightly different transmutation. I'm 90% certain everything will slot perfectly."

The team moved quickly, Holland and the others followed them to what looked like a large pit in the ground, with a series of metal rods sticking into the ground on the inside. Wires stuck out all over the place, connecting different rods together, and moving around others. It gave the impression of a large spiderweb of metal and plastic. A kind of elaborate platform stuck out over the pit, supported by some of the metal beams and reaching about half way across. It bore what looked like several steps, and at the tip a slot for... something. Holland had absolutely no idea what it did.

But Woz did. "I recognize some of these configurations... Isn't this a little bit like what the Compac Tests used?"

Sonia, working with the others to carefully lift the sealed L-17-10 with a sling, nodded. Over her shoulder, she said: "Similar. Good eye. We used those experiments as a base guideline. What we found was that we were working with a very similar kind of reaction, except instead of fission of the Image energies for propulsion, we were looking at tearing through a fabric of very similar energies. The overall protocol was similar, but the end goal very different. We never quite managed to keep open an entrance long enough to send anything through, but we had very promising readings from those tests."

"Wait. You never managed to send anything through?" Holland looked up from examining the poles in their pit.

"Again, we were working with a very unrefined energy. Well, less refined. This one should be the answer to all of our problems, hopefully without tearing a hole in the fabric of our worlds permanently."

"Hopefully?"

"Fingers crossed."

The work progressed quickly. From what Holland could see, most of it consisted of installing the L-17-10 into the platform over the pit, and then connecting wires to stuff and stuff to other stuff. He just hoped they knew what was going right. He only had a couple years of experience with the Gekko, honestly, and that was more than enough engineering for him. That, and knowing how the Devilfish had worked when he was... 'under orders' in the military, but that wasn't his problem anymore.

"Holland, I'm going to go back and check on how things are coming along with the Gekko," Talho said to him after what was likely an hour watching and helping out where they could. She had wandered about the ruins for a while, but Holland managed to stay focused on the task at hand. Besides, after the initial shock of seeing so much underground, ruins weren't of that much interest to him. People from the past didn't have much of an impact on his future.

"Yeah, okay. Just make sure Jobs hasn't short-circuited anything like he did last time."

"He's better at it than you are."

"Small blessings."

She left quickly. Holland wanted to join her, honestly, but he wasn't certain he was up to all those steps with his leg.

"Holland, we've almost finished this over here," Woz called to him. "Could you give me a hand with this manifold?"

After another hour of work, they were ready. The lights in the cavern dimmed as the machine stood on standby. Holland couldn't imagine what kind of power requirement it needed. When he asked, Sonia told him that it wasn't on the grid.

"The lights are just dimmer because they're farther away, from a multi-dimensional perspective. This is brilliant." She was giddy like a child in a candy store. "We're literally experiencing cross-world radiation!"

"That's... great..." Holland said, eying the machine warily.

"When you're ready, Doctor," one of the scientists called over to Sonia.

She nodded. "Everyone put their masks on first."

All of the scientists had safety gear, apparently. Sonia handed one to Holland. Woz had already got one from someone.

"Everyone behind the testing barrier, please," she added, referring to a plastic-and-glass shield that had been set up a short distance away. They all crowded behind it. Only Pyotr remained outside.

"Alright!" Sonia called out to him. "Go!"

Many of the scientists had out clipboards. If resources were more available, they might have had computer recording equipment, but it appeared those had been traded away.

Pyotr flipped several large, dangerous-looking switches, and then ran back behind the barrier.

All of the lights in the cavern disappeared. They weren't broken... they were simply not there anymore. The entrance they had come through from the stairs seemed hazy as Holland looked back, almost as if it were obscured behind dense fog.

Holland shook his head. He had hoped he was done with this kind of crap.

They stared off into the dark for what felt like minutes, but could only have been a few seconds.

"Doctor-" one of the scientists started, but was quickly shushed by at least three people.

Then, Holland could see a light. Just that. A faint light emanating from the pit itself, and spilling out into the rest of the cavern.

As the light touched the ruins though, the stonework began to glow. Looking around, Holland could see that everywhere there was a carving or crack in the stonework, the light from the pit seemed to set it ablaze in a glow of color. Around them the entire cavern began to light up again with multi-colored show of swirling color and symbols.

Just when he thought it couldn't get brighter, the light in the pit flashed, as if before it had only been warming up. Now the light out of the pit was like a spotlight, shining against the ceiling of the cavern. The color of this light swirled around too, in patterns that reminded Holland strangely of a river.

He looked behind him. The cavern exit seemed farther away and fainter than ever.

"We need to shut it off," he muttered. "Or it'll take us before we're ready."

"What was that?" Sonia, crouched next to him, asked.

"We need to shut it all off," he repeated, louder.

"Why?"

He pointed. "Look behind you! We're being taken wherever this goes, and my people aren't ready yet to muster a rescue operation!"

"That's nice," Sonia said dreamily. It seemed to Holland that she, in a way, was as distant now as the entrance.

"Holland!" Woz called out to him – he had been crouched nearby, but now the distance between them had somehow stretched out. "We're not ready!"

"I know!" Holland responded, and gestured at the scientists. "What's wrong with them?"

"Something to do with the forming vortex," Woz said, louder now. They were getting farther apart. "We need to shut it off!"

"I'm on it," Holland said, stepping out from behind the barrier. As soon as he did, everything changed.

Holland stood in a field of flowers. Dazzling, vibrant flowers that swayed as if underwater. He could feel tingles, eddies along his skin almost as if there were waves of energy flowing around him. He wasn't walking with the cane anymore, but for some reason that didn't seem to matter. His leg felt just fine. The lights made him cover his eyes with a hand, and look around at the rest of the cavern.

But it was hardly a cavern anymore. Now it was an eternal city, swaying with the rest of the world as if behind a curtain... a waterfall separating him from an entire world. The buildings were grand and glinted in the sun, the fountains brilliant and enameled. The plazas were covered in marble. He only had to reach out his hand, and part the curtain, and he would be there...

He shook himself, grasping onto the memory of what he had to do. He looked over at the apparatus – which now looked back at him. Somehow, it had taken the form of a great, metal beast, with eyes that glowed and a mane of the flowers that lay all around him. The L-17 and switch lay on the beast's muzzle.

"Great," he muttered.

Moving slowly forward, he neared the creature. It eyed him with what Holland could only hope was benign disinterest.

But as he got within striking distance, the beast roared, and changed again. Now it had taken the shape of... a man. A man in a strange military uniform that Holland didn't recognize. It was featureless, except for the symbol of a lion upon it's breast. The man's face-

Holland stopped cold.

"What... what are you doing here?" he breathed.

"Hello Holland. Interesting that you should be so important here, too," Dewey smiled.

"Answer the damn question!" Holland pulled out his pistol, and fired several well aimed shots. As they touched Dewey, however, they only turned into splashes of color, quickly fading to white.

The pale man smile turned broader.

"You know, I had always thought it would be enough. Everything I did before... moving on, to you and your friends here."

"What are you talking about? Who the hell are you?" Holland stepped back. The colors of the field around him were beating, now – their light growing brighter and darker to a strange, unknowable rhythm.

"I mean, I thought that the way I treated you from the beginning would be enough," he tutted as if speaking to a child. "Would have been enough to crack many people, I'm certain. It didn't, though. I should have seen that from the beginning. No, my plans called for something far greater. Something... agonizing."

"You're dead. You're dead, you're dead..." Holland repeated over and over under his breath, falling to his knees now. The field around him felt soft. So soft. If he just laid down on it and took a nice rest...

"Not quite. A concept is never truly dead, now is it?" Dewey laughed. "The infinite is only ever dormant in the minds of man, so long as there is one to remember it." He moved over to Holland, walking with a stride that would have done a drill sergeant proud. His flowing cape swirled around him almost as if it had a life of its own. "Now, where was I? Ah, yes. The Agony. Quite brilliant, really. I knew it would work – the strength of your bonds would be the very things to tear you apart. Everything fell into place."

"Why are you telling me this?" Holland said, glaring at Dewey with all the strength he could muster. He felt so much like just lying down in the field.

"Because you're weak, Holland. Because I'm done with you. You're good at what I do, but you've run your use."

"Who..." Holland couldn't even properly form the question.

Dewey leaned in until their noses were almost touching. His eyes were like cold steel, and they glinted like the clashing of blades.

"I'm War and the end of all things, Holland. And I'm winning: in this world and the other. Just one final tip of the scales, and everything will be finished."

"Holland!" Woz's voice rang out from behind them. Dewey's head turned impossibly fast. And then, before Holland could blink, he jumped forward, becoming the terrible metal beast from before.

Whatever Dewey was now roared, and Woz fell on his back, putting his hands up.

"Holland!" he called out.

But now Holland was back on his feet. The sight of one of his crew in danger roused him, and he forced himself up and forward.

With a cry, he swung around to the creature's front. There it was. The controls, molded to the underside of the beast's throat. He lunged.

He hit the off button.

And everything was normal. The lights were back on, the cavern was abandoned, and the ground was packed, ancient dirt. As if it had never happened. For a moment, Holland wondered if he had dreamed it. He felt himself leaning against the cane, and looked down to find that he had been holding it all along. Apparently.

Sonia came out from behind the barrier. "Alright, well it seems like it works, then. I believe that we can change the vector of the projection to allow a passable wormhole – your ship should be able to fly through it just fine.

Woz looked at Holland, but his commander shook his head, mouthing a 'we've got to do it.'

"Good," he said. "We'll be ready. I'll contact you on the transmitter when we're in the air."

As they walked back up the stairs, or hobbled in Holland's case, Woz couldn't help himself.

"Are you crazy? That creature... that thing..." he looked at Holland with eyes wide.

"Doesn't matter," Holland said, his voice steely. "I'm not going to back down just because he says. He thinks I'm done, huh?"

"Holland, what are you talking about?"

Somehow, Holland was walking faster than Woz was up the stairs even with his cane. "It was Dewey."

Woz blanched. "But... it couldn't be. He died, Holland."

"You think I don't know that?" Holland yelled back. "Whatever he was, I'm not just going to lie down and take it. He could get away with that when I was a kid. Well I'm not anymore."

"Are you sure about this?"

Holland didn't answer. He just sped up. So, of course, he ran straight into the figure that was running down the stairs.

"Wha-" the two fell in a crumpled heap, falling a couple steps back.

"Watch where you're going! No respect for public officials!" the figure complained angrily. He sat up. "Where's Dr. Wakabayashi? She's responsible for all this, and I'll be damned if she'll get away with it!"

Holland pulled himself up second. "What do you mean, all this? What are you babbling about, old man?"

"You're not from around here, are you? Foreign scum," the man spat on the stairs. "I'll have you know that I'm _Mayor_ Iglasias around here, and I can have you arrested on the spot!"

"Spare me," Holland muttered. "Look, what is going on up there? Why are you in such a damn rush?"

"Holland-" Woz was listening intently to something. "I think we have a problem."

There was a large bang that echoed through the tunnel.

"Dammit," Holland sighed. The two hurried up the stairs, leaving the Mayor far behind them.

Outside was a sight that Holland had definitely not wanted to see. There was what was left of the squad of military KLFs circling around the Gekko, and they were sitting ducks. They had already destroyed what was left of the 606: it was a smoking puddle of molten metal. Some of the enemy KLFs were damaged too, from the looks of it. They hadn't even stopped for repairs since the last battle.

Woz and Holland moved across the tarmac towards the Gekko as fast as they could. Talho was standing on the floor of the lowered hanger door, and it was raising. She waved them on.

"Hurry up!" she called.

"We need to get off the ground," Holland said breathlessly as they clambered in. The hangar door closed as they tried to catch their breath. "Contact Sonia."

"What do you think we're doing?" Talho rolled her eyes. "Come on. We've already told Sonia to start up again. We'll be off the ground in-"

There was a huge blast, and everyone was sent to the hard floor. Prying himself up, Holland looked around. There was smoke coming from somewhere further in the ship.

"That didn't sound good," Woz said.

As quick as they could, they pushed on through the hangar and into the smoking corridors of the ship. There were no alarms going off, and from the vibrations under their feet the engines were still starting, so hopefully nothing important had been hit...

They got up to the bridge just as the Gekko began to speed up. Moondoggie was having a hell of a time dodging as best he could as the barely flying KLFs above them tried to hit the bridge with their weapons fire.

"One off starboard! Eleven o'clock!" Ken-Goh called. He was firing off rounds and rockets as fast as he could, but they were almost out. They hadn't restocked almost since the Flood, and there weren't a lot of places still above water to get replacements.

"I see them!" Moondoggie called back. "I'm going to try and-"

"Turn us around," Holland said, grabbing onto a nearby exposed pipe to steady himself as they were wracked by another explosion nearby. "Aim towards the ocean! We don't have enough space to take off here. We're going to have to do a water launch! Damage report!"

Woz had sat down at his station. "Jobs says that we're alright, damage wise," he said, scanning the screen quickly. "Some of the crew quarters on the starboard side got hit pretty bad, but most it's just shrapnel that's hitting us. We're leaking cooling fluid though, so we probably shouldn't fly for more than an hour."

"Great," Holland said. "Talho, you said we contacted Sonia?"

Before Talho could answer, Gidgit spoke up. "I talked to her!" she said. "She said everything was a go!"

"Fine."

"Holland, we've never done a water take-off before," Talho reprimanded.

"What about that one two months ago?"

"Alright, correction. We've only done _one _water take-off, and we weren't _under heavy enemy fire_ then."

"Can you do it, Moondoggie?" Holland asked the pilot.

"Sure I can. Water's fun. Water's cool."

He shrugged at Talho. "Where's the others?" he asked.

"Hilda said something about trying to take off in the 808... I haven't heard from her-"

"She's contacting us right now, commander!" Gidgit called.

"There she is!" Talho pointed out the cockpit window. They could see Hilda's 808, barely flying, circling around the heart of the enemy formation. She was harrying them, Holland saw, but she couldn't navigate well enough to chase anyone down.

"I'll back her up," Ken-Goh confirmed. A series of rockets flew out toward Hilda's position in a cloud of smoke.

The Gekko rolled out onto the water, and gather speed. The waves caused the cockpit to bobble dangerously up and down. Talho fell into him, and he grasped onto her, holding onto the ship, his knuckles white.

"Who has the baby?" he asked. "Mischa?"

Talho nodded. "Made sure of it. Matthieu wasn't exactly," the cockpit tipped dangerously down, "happy that he couldn't fly out and save the day, but I convinced him."

"Commander! Incoming message from the enemy!" Gidgit said.

"Put them on," he said, turning towards one of their view screens.

A face came up on the screen, and who he saw made his stomach churn. It was Will.

"You didn't think you'd gotten away, did you Holland?" he said, smiling. His lank blond hair was plastered against his forehead. His face shone with perspiration. There were clear red warning lights shining in his cockpit.

"What has gotten into you?" Holland shouted. "You're willing to work for these stooges to destroy us? We all went through the Agony! Why can't you get that through your thick skull?"

"You're the one who doesn't get it yet, Holland!" Will was angry. His eyes were dead, and spittle flew at the screen as he yelled. "_You_ betrayed _us!_ The whole world! How do you sleep at night, knowing that you sent thousands of _children_ to the bottom of the sea? We are the arms of the avengers, and you are the wrong that will be made right."

Holland laughed cruelly. "Yeah, you've done a great job on that so far," he grinned.

"You chose the wrong side, Holland," Will shook his head. "I think I'll keep your corpse for last." With that, Holland was left staring at a blank screen.

"Get us up in the air," he said. "Get us up in the air now. Get Hilda back, we're leaving." He turned to Gidget. "Any word from Sonia?"

"She called just now..." Gidgit sounded worried. "But Holland... she sounded weird. Like she was sleep-talking, or something."

"Dammit," Holland cursed. "They've started it up. We need to turn around, aim towards that hill..."

"Airborn!" Woz called out.

Holland could feel it under his feet, the swell beneath them and pressure that signaled take off. They rose above the waves, engines roaring.

"Get Hilda back in the hangar," Talho said. "We're making a straight shot for the wormhole."

"Wait, there's really going to be a wormhole?" Moondoggie asked. "How will we know – I don't know what a wormhole looks like, exactly-"

As the ship turned, they saw what looked like an enormous, swirling vortex in the sky. The eddies and waves Holland had seen were nothing compared to the huge rips and swells in reality that this thing spat out.

"Oh," Moondoggie said. "That."

"Aim straight for it," Holland said.

"Hilda, requesting permission to come aboard!" came a voice on the speakers.

"Opening hangar doors," Woz responded.

"Okay, 808 aboard!"

The entire Gekko shook as the KLFs realized what was happening. Without Hilda to distract them, they were swarming.

"I want the engines up as hot as they'll go!" Holland called.

"Right!" Woz said.

He could feel the floor under him shudder as the ship picked up speed, and then a bigger shudder as they were hit by one of the KLFs.

"Starboard intake valve three disabled!" Woz cried out. "We're losing altitude! I can't tell exactly what's wrong – my readings are all fizzled!"

"Well, compensate, dammit!" Talho moved over to the captains chair. "Holland, if you're going to stand around, see if you can't go down to the lounge and see what the hell is going on out there." She was in action mode, now. Holland smiled in spite of everything.

Moving to the lounge below, he hung off the ledge jutting down from the bridge, and leaned out, looking through the windows.

"Nothing we can do about it. Hit it full blast. They're coming for another pass," he called back up.

"Confirmed," Woz agreed. "Here they go again."

The Gekko shuddered, harder this time. Holland pulled back from the window as flaming wreckage spilled off the sides of the ship, plunging to the land below.

"Hull breaches on top!" Woz called out. "They've hit our exterior sensors. I'm getting nothing anymore."

The wormhole loomed closer. As they drew near to it, he could see large streams of color oozing out of it into the sky like a pinwheel. The Gekko rocked again, but this time it was more of a gentle roll, as if they had just gone over a speed bump.

"Alright, this is weird," Gidgit complained. "Everything just went dead. Like, really. I'm not getting anything from anywhere. No communications."

Holland moved back up to the bridge. "We've moved into it. We're in between the two worlds, now."

"Are you sure?" she looked at him. "This isn't how I remember it looking last time."

"This time it's different," he reassured. "The effect's... stronger, somehow. It's radiating out, and we're caught in it."

"If we're caught, then so are those KLF's!" Ken-Goh called. "They're moving around to block us."

"They must have caught on," Moondoggie said.

"We're almost there!" Talho said. "Keep the nose pointed towards that wormhole."

And then the bridge shuddered as the enemy KLFs sailed overhead, turning with their guns trained.

"Guys, I can't avoid 'em!" Moondoggie yelled out.

"I got them!" Ken-Goh fired.

The missiles didn't have to go far. It was a straight shot, and the KLFs must have been getting desperate. The explosion of purple smoke in front of them covered the Gekko's windows, but after they passed through it, Holland saw the bodies of the KLFs plunging towards the ground below.

Somehow, the ground and sky were becoming twisted, the eddies of the wormhole reaching out like tendrils, slowly shifting everything that was.

"I don't know about this, Holland," Woz breathed.

"Almost... there..."

The event horizon of the wormhole loomed in front of them, looking to all the world like the stigma of a flower. Space seemed to stretch.

Out of the corner of his eye, Holland thought he saw Dewey. When he looked, though, the apparition was gone.

Color folded around them.

"Almost..."

…...

_There._

With a sigh of relief, Holland stepped out from under the machine.

"How's that?" he called up.

"Everything's fine from up here," Hap called down, stepping across the shoulders of the enormous machine in the hangar. It was perhaps the most unwieldy thing Holland had ever seen, but it did kind of have it's own natural beauty to it: the typeGR500. Flying around the world as a man of piece didn't mean he wanted to be caught on his ass. And, as he felt the engines of the Gekko vibrate underneath his feet, he closed the panel he had been working on.

"How does it look, anyway?" he asked Jobs.

Immaculate as always, Jobs stepped around the LFO in long, calculating steps. "I... think... that should about compensate for everything," he muttered. Then, louder: "I'm still not sure if it's going to fly straight when it's first booting up, but after that I _believe_ it will be perfectly safe."

"Safe as you can be in a firefight, anyway," Hap commented, climbing down. "You sure you want to bring this thing along, Holland? Not exactly proving grounds for a new LFO."

"Sure as I'll ever be."

"Jobs, did you really look at these?" Dominic asked, examining a panel in his hand. "You can't have got this decimal place right. The power output doesn't even line up with-"

"Dominic, as I've repeatedly told you," Jobs shook his head, "you can't keep expecting LFOs to have the same output levels as KLFs. They're wired differently, all throughout the core systems. You see the primary valves on the plan? Well, not only does it not correspond-"

On and on it went. Assured that their newest asset was in good hands, he worked his way back up to the bridge.

"Alright, status report," he said, sitting in his old captain's chair. It felt much less impressive, these days. There were cracks in the seat, and little white fuzzy stuff littered all over the back; in addition, the seat was developing a bad habit of slipping out of its place entirely. But it was still his seat.

"All weapons systems are ready," Ken-Goh said. "If a little rusty."

"All other systems are operating just about fine, Holland," Woz said from his chair. "I'm waiting on a report from the core engine room, but Jobs and Dominic don't seem to be answering."

"Yeah, don't hold your breath on that one," Holland smiled slightly. "They're too busy arguing over the Griffin."

"The type500?" Woz shook his head. "I hope they got all my software put in right. Jobs always forgets the files that need to be-"

"Not you too," Holland put his head in his hands. Then, sternly: "Focus on what we've got to do, alright? They've got a handle on things down there."

"Message incoming from the Warsaw ship Mieszko," Gidgit piped up. "It's that woman, Captain Schwartz. Says she wants to talk to you."

An eyebrow raised, Holland moved over to the panel. Annika's face appeared on the screen.

"Yeah? What do you want?" he asked.

She gave him a funny look. "What do you think I want? Just giving you instructions."

"No. No, I'm not taking instructions from you, actually."

"Holland, now is not the time for this," she rolled her eyes, "pissing contest. Look, we're sending over coordinates now. That's where intel says that Brosendell's going to be moving their forward command ship. It's moving smack in the middle of the fleet, so we might have some trouble punching through-"

"Maybe you will-"

"Oh, shut up. Look, just follow us. Any questions?"

"Yeah, one," he leaned in close to the screen. "Is that really a captain's uniform? I mean, of a ship, and everything? Who thought that was a good idea?"

"Unlike you, I _earned_ it," she replied tartly. "Now if that's all, I'm going to be turning off this screen now."

"Yeah, fine. I'm just going to go to my captains cabin and polish some of my old trophies," Holland waved his hand dismissively, and without turning the screen off, walked out of view of it. Several very anatomically creative swear words called after him, and then the link was cut.

"Do you... know her, sir?" Gidgit looked at him, barely keeping a straight face.

"Not anymore," Holland said. "Maybe I never did."

Hilda and Mattieu came in through the hallway door, the latter holding the first back by his collar.

"Easy, there, Matthieu," she reprimanded.

"Look, all I'm saying is that it's not fair!" he complained. "I mean, really-"

"What the hell's going on here?" Holland glared.

"How come I don't get to pilot the new typeGR500?" Matthieu wined. "I really wanted to before, but you said 'no, when the time comes,' right? Well, now's the time, and I hear that I don't even get a little flight?"

"You wouldn't like it," Holland advised. "It's completely different from the 606."

"Different's good!" Matthieu defended. "Different's great! I've been flying the 606 for years, now. Some change is good for you, I think. I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere..."

"Permission to throw him in the brig, Captain?" Hilda rolled her eyes.

"No. Come on, Matthieu. After all this is over, I promise that you'll get a go with it. Okay?"

Matthieu sighed. "Fine. I'll just go and polish it for the sixth time, then." Hilda let him skulk off.

"How about you, Hilda?" Holland asked, leaning against his chair. "Everything ready on the 808?"

"Sure, it's ready," she sighed, leaning against the opposite wall. "You're sure about all this, right?"

"Why does everybody always think otherwise?" he groaned. "Look, I've gone over and over it in my head. There is no other way we can get away with this. We've just got to buy as much time as we can until Dr. Bear figures everything out."

"No, not that. Look, we really need you on the Gekko. If you're in the type500..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Me? Who said anything about me piloting it."

"Oh, for pete's sake," she gave him a look. "Do you really expect us to be that stupid? You're going to sneak off into it in the middle of the battle when things are looking bad, and then pull your cowboy saves the day routine. And probably come this close to being killed, too."

"Well..." he struggled. "You're wrong. I was thinking about piloting it from the start of the fight."

"There? See?" she shrugged. "Look, all I'm saying is that things have changed a little bit since the good ol' days of fighting Dewey and their Mon-soonos. First, these are Fantoms we'll be going up against. I've fought them, you haven't-" she said to his unimpressed expression, "-so let me talk. They're fast, agile, and frankly much better piloted. Brosendell knows what it's doing with it's military."

"Jurgens has done an alright job updating the Mon-soono build, you know," Holland said. "They can hold their own against the Fantoms, one-on-one."

"Yeah, but it won't be one-on-one, A. And B, they can only hurt the Fantoms if they can hit them, which they often can't, but that's not the point." She moved closer, jabbing a finger at his chest. "The fact is, that you're not hyped up on crazy drugs any more. And you're not young anymore. Face it, Fearless Leader. We need you here more than we need you dead out there."

Holland's brow furrowed. "I'm the best pilot here. You know that."

"No, I don't," she said firmly. "And you don't either. Not anymore. Look, I don't want to have to be the one to get back and tell Talho that you went out there and now she has to raise a baby on her own."

"She wouldn't be alone-"

"You know what I mean. Look, just don't be an idiot for once-"

"Hilda, stop. I'm going, okay? And you're not going to stop me."

She pulled back, shaking her head. "Can you at least hang in here until we really need you?"

He considered. "Fine. So long as you save some for me."

Hilda smiled wanly. "Yeah, sure. Like the good ol' days."

"Right."

For the next couple hours, it was just flying over countryside. It was so strange, with the Coralians gone, or mostly gone, and the violence between the two species solved, how different the countryside was. Before, people had stayed as close to the tower-states as they could, for protection. The country itself was empty except for towns that had something to sell, and could gain protection for that reason. Clusters of humanity grew only where they could find purchase and safety.

Now, looking down, Holland could see small cottages and villages sitting in the middle of dense forest. The land between Warsaw and Brosendell was rich. It was no wonder either wanted to fight over it. Sometimes the trees gave way to some of the largest farms Holland had ever seen, stretching for acres upon acres. This was the breadbasket for the entire region.

And not an antibody in sight, at any rate. Occasionally, Holland would see a flock of skyfish drift by, but it was mostly just monotonous flying, riding in the wake of Annika's battleship, _Mieszko_. It reminded Holland vaguely of going into battle with another red-painted military ship.

It was 22:00 when the Mieszko stopped in front of them. Even though it was dark, Holland could see a small convoy of battle-cruisers by the red lights and windows that shone from the inside.

He twisted in his chair, turning to Woz. "How many ships do we have?"

"Four, I think," he said. "One's an escort vessel, though. It's probably been press-ganged like we were. Total LFO count still uncertain, but most battleships carry at least five."

Holland scoffed. "Three battleships, an escort, and the Gekko? We've had worse odds."

"We have, it's true," Ken-Goh agreed.

"Captain Schwartz again," Gidgit said.  
"Put her on."

The face popped up on the screen. "We're right on time. The enemy force is coming right along. They should be here in about ten minutes. The command ship will be the big one."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Look, I'm not going to micromanage you, so you can relax about that."

"I wasn't even-"

"Yes you were. You were sitting weird. Anyway, just do what the Gekko does best. Our group is going to do what we do best. Just try and focus fire on the command ship, alright?"

"Fine! Yes!"

"It's nice to have you on our side, anyway, Holland."

The screen clicked off.

"Did you... go out with her?" Gidgit asked.

"I did not!" Holland slammed his fist on the chair. Then, in a different tone. "Is it obvious?"

"It's _pretty_ obvious," Moondoggie quipped.

"How does Talho feel about that?" Ken-Goh asked curiously.

"Look! It was only a one-night stand type of thing," Holland defended. "Or maybe two nights. A week, at most."

"Ten bucks says three weeks," Moondoggie muttered.

"You're on," Hap said, from behind Holland.

He turned to look at his second in command. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough, of course. So, this about Annika?"

"No!"

"Yes," Moondoggie and Gidgit chorused.

"Look, guys, stop giving him a hard time," Hap waved them off. "It's not like she totally dumped him." He paused. "Oh, wait, she totally did."

"How come every girl does that to you, Holland?" Moondoggie asked. "Like really. Renton's sis, this Annika chick..."

"You got really lucky with Talho," Gidgit nodded.

"Would all of you stow it?" Holland fumed. "Next person who mentions anything about me and Annika – I mean Captain Schwartz will get double diaper duty with Charles. Am I understood?"

There was a general chorus of despair and agreement.

"Is the enemy here yet?" Holland grumbled.

"I'm getting something..." Woz muttered. "Yeah, Holland. Here they come."

"Oh."

They didn't need the sensors to tell them. There, out in the darkness, was what looked like a wave of flying lights approaching from the horizon. It was the control ship and its escort – off the top of his head from the lights Holland estimated maybe twelve ships, not counting their leader.

And as it drew closer, he could see that it was a truly intimidating ship. Not quite as impressive as Dewey's mothership had been, but then again he had an entire world at his beck and call, and Brosendell was only one tower-state. The ship itself was shaped like the giant shell of some mollusk – smooth on its enormous back, with most of the hardware and weapons exposed on the underside. It flew relatively close to the ground for a ship of its class; periodically it would fire a volley of siege weapon fire at the earth below.

_Great. _This_ is gonna be fun. _

The enemy ships approached with frightening speed. They were aimed straight at the heart of Warsaw – the tower itself. Holland assumed that the only reason there weren't more ship in the enemy convoy was the fact that they were assaulting other fronts as well. The defenders were surrounded and spread too thinly.

"Here we go again," Ken-Goh said quietly. "We're going to need reinforcements."

"No, we're not. We're not going to beg for help," Holland replied, sitting up straighter. "We're going to do this ourselves. We've been in worse than this."

"Should we launch the LFOs, then?" Hap asked.

Holland nodded. "Yeah, let's get them in the air." He could see the Warsaw ships were doing the same thing: the sky was filling with shapes darker than the night around them. "You ready, Hilda?"

The pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Damn straight."

"Then get going."

"808, launching!" Gidgit repeated.

"Leader, you sure I can't even try the type500 for the first half of the-"

"Matthieu! Just launch!"

"606, launching!"

"Alright, everybody," Holland stood up. "Wait, Gidgit, I'm on the speakers, right?"

"...Now you are," she said sheepishly.

"Alright, everybody," he tried again, "this is it. We hold them off, than not only do we get to save our friends in Warsaw, but in Tresor to. This isn't exactly what we've been hoping for, after all the peace talks we've been setting up, but the time for that is over. Now it's fight or let all those people get killed. I'm not about to let that happen. How about you guys?"

There were cheers, both in the ship and over the speakers.

Annika's voice came on, over the speakers as Holland finished.

"Gekko, our battle-group is advancing to full speed. We're going to hit 'em hard, and hit 'em fast. Remember, the shielding on that monster is almost impenetrable on top."

"Received, Mieszko," Holland responded, all business. "We're with you. Moondoggie, keep up with the Warsaw ships, but fly above them. Hilda, Matthieu?"

"Yeah?"

"You guys, stay down here with the main group. We're going to be right back. They need your help down here, though."

"Received loud and clear, Holland."

"Good."

Holland could feel the ship vibrate with energy as it both accelerated and gained altitude. He grinned. Honestly, even after all the work he had done trying to avoid battle, this was still his favorite part. The rush before the clash.

From up above, the Gekko could see the faint glint of the moonlight off of the enemy ships. He had been right: 13 ships in a wedge formation, clustered around the command ship. And although at first, he had thought there had been something in his eye causing distortion, Holland could see now that there were perhaps thirty KLFs in the air around the ships. That number seemed about right: from what he had heard, Fantoms were pretty expensive. He wouldn't expect Brosendell to be able to commit a lot of them in any one place.

"Still outnumbered, though," he muttered. Then, pacing, he addressed his pilot. "Moondoggie, you pay any attention to the big ref boarding competitions before coming on with us?"

The blond turned his head and eyed Holland incredulously. "Well, duh. Of course."

"Right. You watch the Gdansk Grande five years ago?"

"Yeah, man. I was there with some friends. Why?"

"Remember the semi-finals?"

For a moment, Moondoggie's face was blank. Then, as he got what Holland was thinking about, his eyes lit up. "Oh, that is awesome! You really want me to do it?"

"So long as you don't hit the ground."

"No, sir! I got this. Just give me a second to figure out how much thrust we're going to need to pull out-"

For a few moments, Moondoggie talked aloud to himself, and Woz, doing calculations. Below them, the two forces were about to clash.

"Now or never," Holland wanted to get down there before things really got underway. Then, with a nod to Gidgit to broadcast his voice throughout the ship: "Everybody, sit in a seat and stay in it!"

"Right, okay," Moondoggie gripped the controls. "Hang onto something, everybody!"

With that, and a wild laugh, he flipped the ship around, and dipped them tail first towards the ground. Gidgit gave a yell, grabbing onto her controls. All they could see was the sky above them, the huge moon, and the brilliant rings.

"Tell me when!" Moondoggie called out to Woz.

"Ken-Goh, get ready!" Holland was still standing, holding onto a nearby console, but otherwise calm.

"Right!"

"If I remember," Hap, having pulled himself into a chair, called to Holland over the raising sound of the wind past their windows, "this trick didn't work! You crashed and burned!"

"Just shut up!" Holland replied.

"Three seconds!" Woz shouted out.

They were all experiencing weightlessness. Holland pulled himself into the captain's seat, and latched onto the arm handles. "Everyone, stay in your chair! Keep you head back!"

"Two seconds!"

Now, out the window, they could see the first signs of battle: two KLFs engaged in a battle far over the rest, cast against the moon.

"One!"

"Now!" Holland called.

Moondoggie pulled hard on the controls, activating the thrusters. Although it wasn't enough to stop them, it made their drop soften progressively, like a swing at the bottom of its arc. They kept going backwards though, and sure enough, soon the underside of the command ship was right in their sights.

Holland smirked. "Fire!"

Ken-Goh let loose with a huge volley of weapons fire. The underside of the enemy ship was lit up, almost as if it had begun glowing. Then, the smoke filled their view.

"Pull out, Moondoggie!" Holland commanded.

"Roger!" he said, without looking away from his controls.

Without a moment to lose before their arc caused them to fly _up_ backwards – something that the reverse thrusters couldn't handle – Moondoggie flipped the ship around again, and into a loop until everything was oriented right again.

"That was insane!" Moondoggie laughed.

"Never do that again, please," Gidgit looked sick.

The battle in front of them still raged furiously. To Holland's dismay, although they had hit the command ship hard, and it was smoking profusely, it was still flying.

All around, KLFs and battleships were doing battle. Laser fire and missiles flew across the sky in every direction, and Moondoggie had to work all his tricks to make sure they didn't get more than scratches.

"Woz, how's it looking?" Holland asked.

"Not good, Holland," he replied, looking at his display and shaking his head. "The civilian vessel is already down. One of our battleships is losing altitude fast."

"And them?"

"Well, we've managed to take out three of theirs."

The Gekko jumped as an enemy battleship flew into view, firing off a volley, its KLFs swarming around them.

"Dammit!" Moondoggie yelled, pulling the ship out of the cloud of enemy mecha. Holland saw the distinct colorful blurs of the 808 and the 606 fly across their view.

"Nice of you to join the party, Holland," Hilda's voice came over the speaker. "We'll deal with these jokers. You handle that ship, huh?"

"Right. Moondoggie, get above them. We'll hit them where they can't get at us."

The two ships were evenly matched, firepower wise, but the Gekko was more maneuverable by half. Like an acrobat, Moondoggie managed to flip them over the enemy ship, upside-down. From the explosion, and ensuing descent, they hit its engines directly.

"Holland," Hilda's voice came over the speakers again, "we're having trouble even getting close to the command ship. These KLFs..." there was an explosion, and her line was cut out.

"Hilda!" Gidgit cried out.  
"She's okay," Woz confirmed. "She's still flying, but she has been hit."

"I've got her," Matthieu's voice broke in now.

"Matthieu, what's your guys' status?"

"We're doin' the best we can, Leader," he shrugged. "We... take down as many of 'em as we can, but more keep popping up. Pretty annoying. Can't break from 'em to run at the command ship, either."

"Alright, it's time to end this," Holland's eyebrows furrowed. "Hap, you've got the bridge."

"What? Where are you going?" Hap responded, but then he shook his head. "As if I even had to ask."

"The Griffin can get in there and bring that thing down," Holland said. With that, he moved into the hallways towards the hangar. On the way, he stopped by a panel and connected to the engine room. "Jobs? Is it ready?"

The engineer's face appeared. "It certainly should be, Holland. I've been studying the command ship, and if you angle yourself under their rear thruster, you should be able to bring it down."

"Thanks."

The hangar was empty, except for the GRtype500. It was a huge machine, larger and bulkier than either of the other LFOs that resided on the ship. It was balanced strangely, as well, with its enormous arms hanging much larger and longer than its legs; all in all, it gave the impression of some giant gold-painted ape. There were mounted cannons on both shoulders, and all the extra space in the arms was the depository of all manner of weaponry. Didn't hurt that those arms could tear other LFOs apart, either.

Holland clambered into the cockpit, which was much more spacious than a lot of others he had been in. There was a bench seat in the back. A pair of small, fuzzy sub-woofers hung from the top of the cockpit, installed by Matthieu. With a series of taps of the controls, Holland brought the machine to loud, clamoring life, and loaded it into the catapult.

"Alright, Holland," Hap's face appeared on the screen. "You ready?"

Loud, blaring electronic music bounced out of the non-regulation speaker system onboard. Holland nodded. "Yeah. Let's get this started."

The gravity that pressed upon his body whenever the catapult fired him out was quickly relieved by the sense of falling through thin air. The moon shone bright in the sky, the words carved in its surface obscured by the phosphorescent rings, tonight.

With a tug, Holland got his board out and under him and rose through the air. Laser fire filled the sky all around him.

He grinned.

"Here we go."

…...

The night at Tresor was not quiet. Scientists and civilians ran back and forth across the complex, trying to salvage, hide, and finish projects before the enemy arrived. Many of the Tresor residents had fled already. Far in the distance, like thunder, there was the sound of explosions. From which battle, Renton didn't know.

He stayed with the Eurekas for several hours. Talho brought him, Rentin, and Anemone food from the lab rec room. It was stale pastry from that morning, but it was edible. They were kept up to date on Dr. Egan from Talho as well. She did the most work in the lab complex, all told, also helping to direct evacuation and plans for hiding some of the larger projects with the head scientists. But every thirty minutes, she checked back in with the group in the ward.

It was nearly ten o'clock when Renton finally worked up the courage to ask.

"Miss... Anemone," he began. The girl with the piercing eyes and pink hair turned to look at him curiously. She had been running errands for the doctors, helping the doctors run tests on the girls, and other tasks.

"Oh, just call me Anemone, for pete's sake," she rolled her eyes. But it wasn't a mean gesture. It was strange. Renton had fought her before, and even seen her unconscious when both she and Eureka had fallen ill. But he didn't remember ever really having a conversation with her.

"Right. Anemone," he repeated. "Well, I mean, I guess I was wondering why you're here with us. You know, helping out? No offense, but you and Eureka-"

"Have tried to kill each other?" she finished for him. "Yeah, I guess." She moved over to where the two girls still slept. Their beds had been moved progressively closer together, as they would twitch in pain periodically from being too far apart. Now, they were almost touching. "I guess I don't know much myself. I just felt like I owe her something."

"She wouldn't hold a grudge, you know," Rentin said. "Not that I know much about all this, but if I know Eureka-"

Anemone smiled at him. "Yes, you're probably right. But we've... fought, so many times. I tried to destroy her. Not even for any real reason, but just because-" she looked down, and spat out the last few words, "-because I was told to."

"You're coralian, too, right?" Renton ventured. "I mean, it always seemed weird to me that you were always hunting us, given-"

"I'm not, actually," Anemone said sadly. "I'm not coralian. I'm a freak... a monster Dewey created so he could destroy everything. That's all I am. His experiment."

"Look," Rentin cut in. "Like I said, I don't know a lot about all this. But I did know someone who looked very much like you. Both of you were and are some of the nicest people I know."

"You didn't know me before, buster," Anemone eyed him dryly. "Before, I would have bitten your head off. Maybe literally."

"What changed?"

Here eyes went far away. "Dominic pulled me out. He broke through all the pain, and the programming, and pulled me through into clean air. He's the only reason I can stand myself. Even then, sometimes it's hard."

"I'm sorry for everything that happened," Renton said, after a long pause. "Eureka always told me she thought the two of you could get along."

The infectious smile lit Anemone's face again, almost as if she had never frowned once in her life. She looked down at Eureka's sleeping form. "I think so too, now. I haven't been able to talk to her, though, because of... Well, because of myself. What happened."

"You're with the Gekko, now," Renton said. "That counts more than anything."

Anemone laughed. "Maybe you're right. After all, what's attempted murder between friends?"

There was a flash from the window, and the building shook.

"What was that?" Anemone breathed. All three of them stood, wary.

"They shouldn't be here, not yet," Rentin said, looking out the window.

"I'll go look," Renton volunteered. "You two stay here." They nodded.

He moved out into the space in front of the lab, and stopped at what he saw.

The Gekko was falling towards Tresor labs. Behind it was what looked like a vortex in the sky – the air around it seemed warped, though, and it threw off storm-like clouds of violent color and light. It lit up the sky.

"Renton!" Talho came running up to him.

"What is going on?" he wondered out loud. "That can't be the Gekko. They're out fighting-"

"Renton, I don't think that's our Gekko," Talho looked at him. His eyes widened.

"You mean-"

The Gekko was falling towards the ground at the wrong angle. As they watched, it hit the tarmac wrong, and skidded for several hundred feet before coming to a stop. It was smoking badly.

"Come on!" Talho ran towards it. Renton followed quickly.  
The closer they got, the worse it looked. There were large blast wounds all over this Gekko, and two out of the four engines were broken beyond repair.

The back hangar door had fallen open. They went around to it, and climbed inside. It was exactly like how the hangar of their Gekko looked, except that it had very recent scorch marks inside. There were some small fires here and there that needed to be put out.

"Hello?" Talho called out. Her voice echoed in the large room.

And then it echoed again.

"Wait a second..." Renton called out as well. "Hello?" His echo sounded like Talho's. Except that it definitely wasn't an echo.

"Are you okay in there?" Talho called, climbing up to the hallway at the back of the hangar.

"We have some injured," came the same voice in response. It was getting closer.

As Renton followed behind her, getting up to where she was, he saw her stop walking, and stare.

"Oh," she said quietly. "I guess that would make sense, huh?"

The other voice sounded confused. "What... am I dead? Are you real?"

"Very real," Talho confirmed. She moved deeper into the hallway, and as he got onto the same level as them, Renton saw her go over and give her other self a hug. "I'm sorry about all this. This is going to be weird."

"I don't understand," the other Talho said, stunned.

"It takes a while. Look. I'm you. But from this world, okay? Now, let's focus on our problems. How is the crew? You said you had wounded?"

Shaking her head to clear it, but not taking her eyes off of the double, Tahlho gestured back into the ship. "Yes. We have a couple wounded. Holland, the idiot, got himself knocked out-" Talho's eyes got wider for a moment, "-and I think Gidgit broke her arm. I'm having it treated right now, though. I think in all we've got about four people that need medical attention. Hilda hit her head. I don't know how she is, and Matthieu still isn't fit for duty."

"Is he ever?" Talho smiled slightly.

A strange look crossed Tahlho's face, but then she relaxed. "You're right." She even smiled a little bit. But then, she put a hand to her mouth. "Ohmygod. Wendy!" she ran off down the corridor.

"Wendy?" Talho called out after her, chasing to keep up. "We don't have any crew..." she turned to call back to Renton. "You go back and tell them we're going to need more beds and supplies for these people!"

"Right!' Renton turned and ran back out of the other Gekko, and towards the medical ward.

It didn't take long to get everything organized. Soon, the mirror crew of this Gekko was flushed out of their ship. Putting a lump in Renton's throat, their Mischa began ordering people around, getting patients into the medical ward. The two Talho's were next in charge, working together to get everything settled and get the Gekko itself taken care of. They seemed to get over their initial shock about the existence of each other very quickly, and Renton thought he even saw Talho fawning over her counterpart's baby, Wendy.

"She's gorgeous," he heard her say, when she was brought into the medical ward for a brief check-up. "We really made a beautiful girl. Er... you two did."

Tahlho laughed. "Yeah. Is that one yours?"

She moved over to where Charles was sleeping in a makeshift-crib. Talho looked down at him lovingly, and placed the two babies next to each other.

"Yeah," she said softly. "That's little Charles. He's not quite the baby Holland can be, but he can be a handful."

"I'll bet."

Everyone mingled together like this in stolen moments, between all the running. The Talho's, and their Woz and Jobs quickly got all the damage on the Gekko under control. It wasn't going to fly again for a while, but it certainly wasn't going to explode, and that was good.

The reaction of the other Gekko crew to him and Eureka could best be described as... well, a kind of curious shock. Moondoggie poked him to make sure he was real, and they all marveled at the similarities and differences between the two Eurekas when they had the chance.

The two girls' beds were touching now, and both Eurekas had moved closer to each other of their own accord.

And through it all, the wormhole hung in the sky, slowly growing larger. It began raining.

"We've got to move everyone out," Talho finally called everyone together. "That storm, whatever it is that you came through from-"

"It's a wormhole," Tahlho amended. "But go on."

"Right. Well, in case you didn't notice in the last hour, it's causing havoc in the sky. Nothing can take off in this weather."

"And we have a bad feeling about it, too," Tahlho agreed. "It does something strange to reality, Woz tells me."

"You can't believe what kind of power you've unleashed," Dr. Egan was suddenly among them, sitting in a chair.

"What do you mean by that?" Talho asked exasperatedly.

"I mean, if we don't stop that storm, it's going to cause major, major problems. Like the starvation of half a billion people."

There was silence in the room, as everyone stared at the doctor.

Mischa was the first to speak. "Why?"

"It's spewing radiation all over the place of a kind I've never seen before. I just finished measuring it, and it literally will kill nearly half of all crops grown by man."

"You mean, immediately? How is that possible?"

"It's a wormhole," the doctor shrugged. "I think we moved past what is possible and what is not a long time ago."

"Regardless, how exactly do you want us to solve the problem?"

Talho broke in. "And we're still waiting for a solution to this-" she pointed to the two Eurekas, "or have you forgotten about that, too?"

Dr. Egan looked at the clock. It was close to eleven o'clock at night.

"Alright," he began to pace the room. "Our goals are as follows: to keep the two Eurekas from combining or contaminating each other, and to close the wormhole before it reaps irreparable damage on this world, and, I believe, the other."

"And to get all of us back to our world," Tahlho added. "With everyone." She looked at Rentin and Eurecka.

"Well, then our options are very limited," Dr. Egan admitted. "I believe, if the wormhole is structured how I theorize it to be, then it is really rather fragile. I single exothermic reaction powerful enough should collapse it."

"But then how do we get everyone else back where they belong?"

"I'm theorizing. Don't interrupt. Now, we'll need a ship big enough, with weapons capability. There is only one such ship here, and it's a prototype. The _Caiman_, I believe. It'll have to do-"

"We're not going to leave the Gekko," Tahlho said simply, and there was a chorus of agreement from her crew.

"You will if you want these two to live," Dr. Egan said, gesturing towards the two unconscious girls on the bed. "If you wait long enough to get that ship back in the air, then you will literally have to cut these two apart from each other."

There was silence.

"Alright," Tahlho said. "What kind of ship is it?"

"One that can fly. That should be the only thing that matters," Dr. Egan sighed. "Now, here we run into a slight inconvenience: Eureka subject 2 will be in pain the entire time she's in this world, so far apart from subject 1. Both of them will be, so we'll want to do this all as fast as possible."

Renton tried to listen as the brainstorming went on, but he felt more and more tired the longer he listened. Before long, he could feel his eyes falling shut...

And he was at the center of the wormhole. The colors flowed all around him, casting everything else in almost impossible light. Below him, the ground was a field of waving, glowing flowers.

Dewey stood in front of him. But as he looked, it didn't seem quite like the Dewey he had known anymore. There was something different... older, and more patient about this Dewey. His clothes were no longer the white uniform he had worn when he was alive, but a coat of many colors, flowing and changing like the lights that surrounded him. On his breast was emblazoned the symbol of a lion, threaded in gold.

"Renton?"

He turned, seeing Eureka sitting in the field with him. He ran over to her, pulling her up and holding her close to him.

"Eureka," he asked. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know. I feel so strange. Like I ate too much."

"Things will get worse, you know," Dewey was standing with them now, although Renton hadn't seen him move. He wore the same skeletal grin.

"What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"Everything I've promised," Dewey shrugged. "And more."

Renton pulled Eureka behind him, and he could feel how weak she was. Her wings were nearly flat against her back.

"What's the point of all this? Why do you keep doing these things?"

"My poor, poor future King," Dewey sighed. "Civilization is on the verge of collapse, and they don't even know it."

Images popped into being around them, like shells washed up by the ocean: people laughing at a party in Kebrenac. Going about their business in Ailess. A child crying in a house in Controlad. Axel putting the kids to sleep in Bellforest. Scenes from daily life all over the world, in places Renton didn't even know.

"What... what have you done?" Eureka asked.

"Just provided the spark," Dewey said. He walked back from them, and a simple chair materialized out of thin air. He sat, and continued. "I'm sure you've realized by now that the wormhole has some... interesting effects."

"It kills crops," Renton nodded. "Yeah, we heard. But we're going to close it."

"It does more than just kill crops. It will plunge the world into a state of climactic imbalance. Seasons that had been regular since the beginning of your history will change. Resources will disappear."

"So what? People will help each other out. If you just wanted to kill people, why involve me?"

Dewey laughed. "You still don't get it, do you? Renton, it was once said that humanity is four meals away from barbarism. What do you think will happen when food, energy, and water all but disappear? The world will be plunged into war. A World War the likes of which has never been seen. Your technology is just enough to fuel it for tens, perhaps hundreds of years. I'm willing to bet that I can keep it going at least that long. And it starts now, with the war between these tower states."

"You monster!" Eureka cried out. With what seemed like her last ounce of strength, she ran at Dewey, throwing several punches at him. He laughed, grabbed her fist, and flung her to the ground.

"Eureka!" Renton tried to run to her side, but some impenetrable barrier prevented him. He banged his fists against it, and was thrown back.

"War will always live in the hearts of man," Dewey went on as if nothing had happened. "Your friend Holland believes himself to be a man of peace, these days – see where that has led him now."

An image popped into being in front of Renton, showing Holland in a golden LFO that he didn't recognize, protecting a Gekko that was smoking, slowly plunging towards the earth.

"Revenge, as well, powers the machine, in this world and the other. I think you'll like this one – these men are slaughtering innocents, in return for the flooding of their world."

Another image: this time of what looked like some strange, mirror version of Tresor on an island. People were running between the lab buildings, slowly being hunted down by military KLFs.

"Stop it. Stop this!" Renton called out. "You're not even Dewey, are you?"

"Correct!" now Deweys grin stretched all the way around his head, unzipping his skull. Out of the hole clambered out the largest creature Renton had ever seen. It was some kind of monstrous cat, with a mane, but the whole things was constructed of shards of stained glass.

"Let's get this over with," Renton said, fists clenched. Eureka watched him from the other side of the barrier in tears, hitting it occasionally with her fist and being knocked down for her efforts. "What are you?"

"I am War," the creature replied, in a voice that was like the grinding of heels on bone. "I take the shape of the man, Dewey, because he was one of my most brilliant creations."

Renton shook his head. "Dewey was a man, not a creature."

"What are men but machines in skin? He was powered by war, in the same way that you are controlled by love, Thurston."

The creature began to pace around Renton in a circle, its foot-falls causing ripples in the flowers.

"What do you want, then?"

"I want you, Thurston," the beast said, sitting on its haunches. "You are my prize."

"Then kill me already and get it over with, but let Eureka go."

"Oh, I don't want to kill you. I am an immortal, you see, Renton. But every so often I must absorb a mortal to maintain myself. And you happen to be so full of that which I despise, love, combined with portions of myself that it would be... delicious for you to be incorporated into my collection. In other words, I want you to become me. To take you throne as the rightful King, the Lord of War."

"And what makes you think I'm going to let that happen?"

The creature gave a toothy grin, and shook its mane. "Oh, you will."

"I won't."

"Renton, think about what you can accomplish. I have just told you all that will befall the world if it is not stopped. And who has the power to stop it? I do. And I'm offering you the chance to become me, to gain my power. Think of all that you could accomplish!" Now, the beast moved closer to Renton, practically whispering into his ear. "Not only could you save your friends, but solve all the problems you see in the world around you. All it would take is for you to take my power."

Renton was silent, his eyebrows furrowed. "But, if I... joined with you, like that, I would lose who I am, as a person, right?"

The creature shrugged. "It's possible. It happens. But think of all that you would be gaining. I am immortal, as I said before. I know things... things that you couldn't possibly imagine. From even before the falling of this world to the Coralian, I was there. And even from before the humans, when spirits ruled this land, and Iblis ruled that kingdom at the right hand of Him, I was watching. For then, as well as now, I whispered into the hearts of the mortals."

"You're evil. You think I want to become a part of something like that?"

"Oh no, Renton. I'm not evil. Not any more than your friend Novak, or the man Dewey. We are all part of the greater celestial machine, you see. I am as necessary as the seasons, or the rain. I come, and I go. But I am always awake. You would be providing a vital service to the people of this world. The need for War."

"But... people don't need fighting, that's the whole point!" Renton yelled. "That's what Eureka and I... what we've been trying to work towards this whole time."

Impossibly, the beast looked skeptical. "Is it? In your heart, do you truly believe that?" Flashing in Renton's eye came images. Images of him destroying Mon-soonos, of him and the rest of Gekkostate fighting the military: servants of Dewey, but people nonetheless. They had thought it was fun. "Tell me, do you think that a world without me is something that would truly benefit humanity?"

Renton looked at the ground.

"There. Now, why don't we save your friends, eh?" the beast seemed smaller now, and the glass that formed its skin turned into soft, tawny fur. "It should be no problem for you. You've done wonderfully at it before."

"I don't know," Renton looked up, his mouth a thin line, "whether you're right or wrong about us. And frankly, I don't care. People might always be like they are, but it's the trying towards a better future that makes them human. I'm not going to join with something that would put my friends in danger to try and recruit me. You'll have to find someone else."

"But I want _you_!" the creature was huge again, wisps of fire curling out of its mouth and around Renton, its body now composed of riveted iron. Renton closed his eyes.

"Hey! Why don't you just back off for once, huh?"

Renton turned, and rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the beast's gaping jaws. He looked up to see Holland, standing there... only that it wasn't his Holland. All these look-alikes were starting to give him a headache.

And in a blink of a moment, the monster was Dewey again.

"Holland?" it said, smiling. "How nice of you to drop by. We were just talking about the boy Thurston's future. You don't really have anything to do with it – he's not your Thurston. So why don't you move along to some other plane of existence?"

"I was already there. Not a lot of places to go when you're unconscious, I found," Hollend grinned, leveling a large automatic rifle. "But I did pick this up in dreamland on the way."

"That can't harm me," Dewey laughed. "Or did you forget already?"

"I dunno. I pulled it out of my own mind," Hollend said, still smiling. "Wanna bet what it can do?"

He fired several shots, and Dewey rolled out of the way before becoming the iron beast again. It lunged at Holl type the End [Just kidding. Please remove this after reading – 0ranos], who barely managed to dodge out of the way. His gun flew out of his grasp, and landed in the field a short distance away.

"Enough!" the beast roared, and the field began to melt away, revealing an endless, churning mass of gears and clockwork underneath.

Renton and Eureka yelled as the field beneath them disappeared, and they fell down into the abyss below. At the last second, Renton managed to grab a hold of one of the gears, but he could feel himself slipping.

"Renton!" Eureka called up to him, barely holding onto his hand, "Don't let go, Renton!"

"I'm... trying..." he gritted his teeth. His arms were yelling out in pain as he was stretched, trying to pull them up. He looked down: below them was the maw of an infinite machine. He clenched his eyes shut. "Don't look down, Eureka!"

Eureka looked up, and saw that on top of one of the larger gears, Hollend was still dodging away from the beast, jumping to nearby cogs to try and evade. The gun was nowhere to be seen.

"Eureka! I'm going to try and swing you up to that other one over there, alright?" Renton couldn't think of what else he could do. As their gear slowly turned, a cog came into view a short distance away. If he angled it right, then maybe he could-

"No! Renton, it's too far! And you can barely hold on as it is! You'll fall!" she argued.

"Eureka, we don't... have much choice," he grunted in effort, sweat beginning to roll down his face. He was beginning to notice the heat that was rising up from the machine below. It was unbearable.

_Oh no._

The sweat was on his hands, too. His fingers were slipping.

"Renton? Renton, why does it feel like we're-"

He didn't have time to think of a plan. There was nobody here to save them...

"I love you, Eureka!"

"Renton, no!"

His fingers slipped.

"No!"

Someone caught his arm, at the last moment. He looked up into the face of Eurecka, her hair falling down into his face.

"Pull, Renton!" Eurecka called over her shoulder, and miraculously, the two felt themselves slowly rising up.

After the most agonizing few seconds of his life, Renton finally managed to get his elbow up over the ledge of the gear. After that, Eurecka pulled him the rest of the way up.

With a gasp of relief, Eureka was pulled onto the metal as well.

"Thanks..." Renton panted. "Thanks for saving us."

Rentin smiled, and knelt down, patting his counterpart on the back. "Don't thank us yet. I just followed Eureka here. I have no idea how to get back."

"And Eurecka... she followed me," Eureka gasped for breath as well. "She's been doing that in my mind... for a while now."

"That thing is the cause of all this," Renton pointed to the beast still trying to grab Hollend. The man was just narrowly evading, but it looked like he was rapidly running out of energy.

"You think if we destroy it?..." Renton's train of thought wandered off, looking at the giant metal monster lunge at Hollend again. He managed to kick it in the jaw, and it recoiled, shaking its head in annoyance.

"We have to try something," Eureka said quickly. "We can't let that thing get Holland, whether he's ours or not."

"Wait, where'd Eurecka go?" Renton asked.

Looking around, they saw her clambering and jumping over the gears, trying to get towards Hollend.

"Hey!" she called, waving her arms. "Hey, you big, ugly... _thing!_"

"Eureka!" Rentin scrambled, jumping on the gears towards her.

The other two pulled themselves up as well, and followed just behind, vaulting over the gaping chasms below.

Hollend was reaching the end of his breath. He tried to bring the mechanical lion as far away from the kids as possible, but he knew he couldn't keep it up much longer.

Keeping one gear ahead of the beast, he jumped, lunging for another cog... and misjudged the distance. With a yell, he barely managed to grab a hold if its edge. But it was a tenuous grip, and he didn't have enough time to pull himself up...

"You've rendered me great service, Holland, and I hesitate to end your life," came Dewey's voice from the beast. It was standing over him, and it drooled oil from its iron maw.

"Hey! Over here! I'm Eureka! Don't attack him! Me!"

_Oh crap. _

He turned his head, and he could just barely see out of the corner of his eye the girl with the long hair, waving her arms like a lunatic.

The great lion turned, and shaking its mane in annoyance, covered the distance between itself and the girl in one leap.

"You... you are not our friend!" Eurecka yelled into its face, jabbing at it with a pointed finger. "Go away!"

The beast brought its iron muzzle inches to hers. "You are not within my power, witch, but do not think that leaves you invulnerable. If you provoke me I will harm you in ways you cannot possibly imagine."

Eurecka stood there for several moments, puzzling up at the big metal lion in front of her. Finally, she let out a defiant: "Well, you're mean!"

"Enough!" the creature raised its great paw to swat her out of the way.

"Did you forget about me?"

The creature turned to see Hollend, standing with the gun trained right at it.

"Now, let's not go through this again," the creature growled.

"You're right. This time I won't miss!"

Hollend charged forward, gun firing. Several bullets hit Eurecka, but these turned into candy wrappers when they touched her. The beast didn't dodge, instead charging for Hollend straight on. The two both let loose a roar as they collided.

The bullets exploded into the beast's gullet.

Its eyes rolling back into its head, the iron creature rolled off of Hollend and began convulsing and shaking. In only a few moments, it lay still.

"Eureka!" Rentin caught up with her, and wrapped his arms around her, moving between her and the hulk of the beast.

"Did you get it?" Renton asked, both he and Eureka stepping onto the slowly rotating gear themselves.

"I..." Hollend lowered the gun to his side, and put one hand behind his head, "I think so."

"Not quite."

The corpse in front of them split down the middle, and the skeleton that Renton first saw in his dreams rose from the wreckage.

"I see now that perhaps you are not the most... convenient target for me to incorporate into myself. Perhaps there are... others, in this world or others, that I should focus on instead. There are always more fish in the sea." There was no movement of the jaw as the skeleton spoke, the blank holes of its eyes piercing Renton.

"Don't come back, and don't put me or my friends in danger!" Renton threatened.

This caused the skeleton to laugh. "Very well, Thurston. You do not know what you are passing up... It truly would have been an excellent partnership. Your spirit, all the same, amuses me. I will not harm you or your friends."

"And you'll fix this mess from the wormhole!" Rentin tried.

The skeleton turned on him. "That is not how this works, I'm afraid. I will cease any further damage, but what has been done is done. It will be up to you-" he pointed at all of them in turn, and lingered on Hollend, "-to make sure that this does not end in chaos. I will not meddle in your affairs: this I promise. You have impressed me, and that is a valuable thing to an immortal such as myself."

"Good. I'm glad," Hollend said suspiciously.

"Oh, I will still be around you," the skeleton cackled, almost reading Hollend's thoughts, "as I have said, you cannot escape me. But perhaps I will be... less prevalent. I haven't decided yet. We shall see."

"And, returning us to our bodies from here?"

"That you must figure out for yourself."

And with that, the skeleton disintegrated, its remnants falling down into the machine below.

"Where do we go?" Eurecka asked, looking around.

"Well, I mean, we could always go back the way we got here," Hollend shrugged. "Everyone back into their own heads."

"I remember there was a door, in my mind, that led Eurecka and I here," Eureka said helpfully. "I think, if we look around... Ah! There it is."

They all turned. There, sitting in thin air, minding its own business, was an old, wooden door frame.

"I see."

"Come on, Eureka," Renton prodded. "We need to get back and get you two separated before you're stuck together forever."

"That wouldn't be too bad," Eureka pondered. "Eurecka's very nice."

The two Rentons looked at each other.

"We might have some sharing issues," Rentin admitted.

"Everybody should share!" Eurecka pointed out.

"No, come on. Let's just get everybody back where they belong," Hollend said. "Hey! Door! How about you stop being lazy and get over here!"

The door drifted closer until it was standing over their cog. It opened shyly.

"Alright, everybody in."

…...

Getting the Caiman ready for take off was much easier and faster than anyone had expected. The wormhole seemed to settle down, and taking off wouldn't be a problem. In fact, adjusting everything was done in less than an hour. It was ten minutes to midnight by the time everything was loaded and prepared.

The bridge was more pointed and elongated than the Gekkos, with the pilot sitting below and forward near the tip, and most of the other stations much further back and higher. Moondoggie immediately began calling it the 'pit'.

One of the scientists was trying to teach him the controls with the time he had left.

"If he doesn't have them now, a little bit more coaching isn't going to help!" Talho shooed the scientist away, and turned to her look-alike. "Is your Holland loaded yet? And the rest of the injured?"

Tahlho nodded. "Yeah, we're just about ready to go. We just need to get Eureka, and then we'll be out."

"Poor girl," Talho looked down. "It's going to hurt like a-"

"Where should I put this?" Woz had an enormous computer console salvaged from the Gekko. The captain pointed to a corner that was unoccupied.

"You should be able to connect it to the systems over there, if I read the plans straight." Then, she turned back to Talho. "Well, good luck with Charles, and Holland."

"Ditto," Talho gave her counterpart a hug. "It's a shame you won't be able to visit."

Tahlho raised an eyebrow. "I have a feeling that that would get a little strange."

Thinking about this, they both laughed. "Yeah, maybe," Talho grinned. "We could have switched once in a while, though. Holland wouldn't have noticed."

They both fell into fits of laughter again.

"Would you quiet down?" Moondoggie said angrily over his shoulder. "I'm trying to figure these things out!"

"And the communications system isn't even set up yet!" Gidgit complained, looking at the non-responsive controls in front of her.

"We'll get it fixed once we're back home," Woz assured. "Just need to figure all this out."

"And Ken-Goh," Tahlho looked seriously at the weapons expert. "You'll be ready for the military when we get back? We can't let them trash Tresor. Their Dr. Egan here says that we should get back only a few minutes after we left, so I want to be prepared."

"We'll be ready for them."

"Never a dull moment," Tahlho murmured.

Then, Hollend walked on the bridge in his underwear, blearily. Talho covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a giggle. Tahlho rolled her eyes.

"Talho? Whaz going on here? I can't find anything anymore..." he blinked several times. "Why are there two of you?"

"I'll explain later, Holland," Tahlho sighed. "Go back to sleep. You're not supposed to be up and about."

"Wait, is this even the Gekko?" Holland muttered, looking around. Tahlho pushed him back to their new room.

…...

"Alright, it has to be done, I guess," Renton held Eureka's hand.

The two beds had been pulled apart, and the girls were squirming, clearly uncomfortable. They were both still not responsive, although both had their eyes open.

"If you're going to get them apart from each other, it needs to happen now," Dr. Egan said from behind them. "Their mental patterns will begin to converge now, if they haven't already."

Anemone sat on the other side of Eureka, holding her left hand. "It's going to be okay," she said, looking down at the girl.

Some of the members of the other Gekko and Rentin were on all the different sides of Eurecka's bed, ready to lift her up and take her out.

"Fine," Rentin finally nodded. "Let's do it. But I'll carry her."

"If you think that's best," Tahlho shrugged. She motioned to the others to be ready should he have any trouble.

"Goodbye, from both of us," Renton said to his counterpart. Rentin nodded.

Reaching down, he carefully put his arms under Eurecka, and lifting her up, cradled her. Both girls began to give out small gasps of pain as he turned around and walked toward the door.

"It's alright, Eureka," he said quietly. "I've got you. It's alright."

He walked out toward the door of the lab, which was held open by Jobs. With each step, Eurecka seemed to shake a little bit more. By the time he got outside, she was whimpering and her feet were kicking out involuntarily.

"No..." she whispered, "no.."

"It's okay," he repeated, trying to comfort her. He held on more tightly when they got halfway to the Caiman, and she began trying to squirm out of his grip. "Eureka! I know you can hear me! It'll be alright. We just have to leave now-" Eurecka's stray fist hit him the nose. Tears filling his eyes from the pain, he kept walking. One foot in front of the other.

Back in the ward, Eureka was crying out.

"Stop!" she cried, "Stop!" Flailing about, she kicked and tried to pull out of Renton and Anemone's grip.

"I know how this kind of pain feels, Eureka," Anemone reassured her, gripping her hand like a vice. "It'll be over soon. Just go somewhere where the pain can't get out you..."

"Eureka, you have to listen to me," Renton tried. "Listen to my voice. Just... just listen. It'll be fine. You'll see. It'll be alright..."

When Rentin reached the hangar door of the Caiman, both girls began screaming.

"Help him!" Tahlho and the rest of the crew that weren't already going to their posts on the ship helped Rentin by holding down Eurecka's arms and legs. She still tried to escape, trying to worm her way out of their grip.

"Goodbye," Tahlho waved at her counterpart, who had followed them to make sure everything went alright. She smiled, and waved back.

"See you around," she said. Then, she turned back to the ward as Tahlho closed the hangar door.

The Eurecka's yelling echoed through the new, cold hallways of the Caiman. It would take a long while before this ship felt anything like home. And they wouldn't be coming back here any time soon to get the Gekko...

Tahlho shook her head. Then, seeing Jobs moving off towards the new engine room, she called after him: "Everything ready?"

"As ready as it will ever be, I'm afraid," he looked ashamed. "I'm not sure that I completely understand how this ship works yet."

"You will," Tahlho reassured. "Let's just get home."

"Yes, ma'am."

Tahlho moved up onto the bridge, hearing the yells of Eurecka echoing through the hallways.

The new captains chair was much more angular than the last, and when she sat in it she felt like she was about to fall backwards. Another thing that would take getting used to.

The sky now was almost perfect. The strange ring and moon here were glowing in the sky, and the wormhole was surprisingly beautiful when it was calm.

"How much time do we have?" she asked Woz.

"Three minutes to get into the wormhole and out of this world," he confirmed. "We'll release the charges on the way out, and it should collapse behind us."

"Good. Let's go home."

The ship's purr that signaled the engines had started was very different from the Gekko's. Tahlho liked it – a good sign. Contrary to what Holland thought, she did love the Gekko just as much if not more than he did. It had been there home.

But change wasn't always a bad thing.

Mischa was on the bridge. "Alright, everyone's settled. I've given Eureka a tranquilizing dose, so she shouldn't tear herself apart when we're in the air."

"Alright," Tahlho nodded. "Wendy?"

"She's awake. Matthieu's keeping an eye on her. He's should be able to walk around just fine in a couple hours."

"Good."

"Everything's ready!" Moondoggie called up from the pit. "We can go whenever you want."

"Then let's go," Tahlho looked out the windows as the Caiman gained speed, and then broke free of the ground into the sky.

…...

The Gekko and the Mieszko, both partially towed aloft by their LFOs, made it back to Tresor.

Holland wasn't surprised, of course. They were always going to make it back. He was sure about that. Sure, parts of the Gekko were heavily damaged and would take money they didn't have to repair it... but when had lack of money stopped them before?

The type500, its gangly arms pulling on two enormous metal cables, flew point ahead of the Gekko. Their thrusters were just barely able to keep the ship from plummeting to the ground below, and the three LFOs that hoisted both ships were necessary to keep them flying level.

It was slowly burning out the other machine's power, but the type500 could do this all day. It had actually been built as a heavy lifting and mining LFO, so this kind of work was natural. Even after being refitted, it still had the highest adjusted regular output of any of their machines.

The first battle really showed on LFOs – after that, there was no going back. That was the case with the Griffin, too. Its once pristine gold paint was no tarnished, and full of pockmarks and laser burns. Its heavy shielding held up well, though: there was only minor internal damage. This wasn't the kind of craft Holland was used to piloting, but he could get used to it.

Only five of the enemy ships were left, and the Mieszko and Gekko alone when Brosendell's forces turned tail and ran. Word had been received on Annika's ship that with the strike force and command ship down, they had managed to fight the enemy to a standstill on multiple fronts. The battles were still being waged, and Kebrenac was still a major issue, but it no longer looked like the main cities of the Warsaw Confederacy were threatened. Maybe peace could be worked out sooner. None of the tower-states had enough resources to fight a protracted war.

Tresor looked none the worse for wear as it came into visual range. Some tents were set up a ways from the base, probably people preparing to get out of dodge if need be, but other than that everything seemed quiet.

A frown crossed Holland's face. Hopefully Dr. Bear had worked out how to solve this problem with Eurecka before he got back – he didn't want the weight of that on his shoulders, and he knew Renton would blame him... both of them would. And maybe he'd even be right.

There was the remains of some kind of ship on the tarmac. That was interesting. It looked like one of the more recent military ship designs that had been in production before the Second Summer of Love, or at least what was left of it did. From where he was, all he could make out were the distinctive wing-neck outline, and the green-

"Hey, guys?" he spoke on an open frequency so that the ship and Hilda and Matthieu could hear him. "Guys, you see that ship down there?" He wasn't sure whether he wanted to believe it or not.

"Yeah, I see it," Hilda said. "It looks like... Aw, crap. It couldn't be."

"What? What, I don't see it?" Matthieu complained. "What's everyone looking at?"

"It's the Gekko, nitwit," Hilda berated.

"Sure looks like it," the voice of Moondoggie crackled. The communications systems on the Gekko were not doing too well at the moment.

"But..." Matthieu was silent for a while. "That can't be, can it?"

"Matthieu, you do remember we're currently have in our care two Rentons and Eurekas, right?" Hilda asked. "Why not two Gekkos?"

"Well, then that would mean-"

"Let's just land and figure this out, huh?" Holland ordered. "We haven't gotten everyone back safe until the Gekko's on the ground."

"Roger that."

"Hey, Warsaw," he changed the channel to include the military KLFs, "we're going to land the Gekko right down there at Tresor for repairs. You're welcome to join us."

A voice crackled back at him. It sounded young, maybe mid-twenties. "Roger, Gekko, but we're going to have to decline. Orders are to take the Mieszko back to the nearest military base."

"Shame. Good luck then."

"Thank you, sir."

The line clicked out, as the Gekko slowly descended and the Mieszko drove on to some unknown home.

But not before the communication line re-opened.

"You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

"Didn't think we had anything to say, Annika."

A laugh. "Maybe you're right. You did good out there, though. You and your crew. Thank them for me."

"I will."

"See you around, then?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

Another laugh, and then Holland was alone with his thoughts.

They landed the Gekko without too much trouble, although Holland winced as he heard one of the landing gears crack and fall to the ground. The ship listed heavily to the right side, but all in all she looked proud to still be in one piece. At least, in comparison with her sister, sitting not a far distance away in a heap.

"Made it through again, you and me," Holland muttered, looking at the ship pensively. "We keep managing that. That's something."

The type500 jumped off of its board and landed with a heavy thud, moving around with its arms rather than its legs. It really did feel animalistic in its movements. But, as before, Holland sort of felt himself getting used to it. He parked it near to the Gekko hangar, which was slowly opening, and popped open the cockpit.

"Hey, Dominic!" he called out, seeing the dark-haired teen walking out of the hangar first.

"Yes?"

"The changes to the 808 and 606. They were moving great out there. You did good."

He smiled, which was something in and of itself. He rarely did that except out of embarrassment. "Thank you. I wasn't sure it would be enough."

Holland dropped to the ground in one long leap, but hit his footing wrong, and tumbled._ I'm getting too old for this,_ he thought, not for the first time that night.

"Hey, you! You're late!"

Turning, he saw Talho striding towards him, fire in her eyes. He intercepted her, though, and pulled her into a deep, drawn-out kiss.

Pulling away, she muttered: "But maybe I can make an exception this once."

Standing up straight again, Holland gestured to the wreckage of the other Gekko. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yep," she nodded. "You missed 'em."

"I... what?"

She shrugged. "You missed them. The crew of the Gekko from the other world stopped by, grabbed Eurecka and Rentin, and got going."

"But... I... They..."

She grinned. "You were late, or you coulda saw yourself. I looked pretty great, too, actually. And we had a daughter."

Holland's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. "We had a-"

"A little girl, yeah. Wendy. She was _so_ cute. It got me to thinking..."

"Hey, Holland!"

Renton and Eureka ran up to them, hand-in-hand. Eureka looked like she had been crying, but she still wore a watery smile. Anemone ran with them, but headed straight for Dominic, tackling him and bringing him to the ground in a hail of kisses.

"You... complete... idiot. Never... go off... to a battle... without saying goodbye... again!"

He didn't look too displeased with this turn of events.

"Hey, Eureka, you're alright!" he grinned.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Renton and Anemone helped me through it, but everything's okay, now. Holland, can we go see the kids? I've been worrying about them almost since we left the first time..."

"Sure, after I check in with Jurgens, see how everything's going over there," he nodded. "It's on the way to Bellforest from here, anyway."

"Thank you!" before he could react, she had tackled him with a hug, too. There was a distinct lack of kisses here, though.

"Is everyone safe?" Renton curiously.

"We got some bruises," Holland shrugged. "But nothing serious."

The rest of the crew was leaving the Gekko now, laughing and congratulating themselves on a job well done. Matthieu was exaggeratedly demonstrating how he had beaten one of the enemy KLFs. Hilda was talking with Ken-Goh, and the latter broke out into a fully-belly laugh. Jobs and Woz had somehow procured a large bottle of apple cider, and were sharing it amongst themselves. Moondoggie and Gidget were nowhere to be seen, interestingly enough...

"Hey, let's go in and get everyone something to eat, huh?" Talho smiled. "I bet we can find something in town for everyone."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Eureka agreed. "So long as there's enough for everyone. When I was at Tresor, a long time ago... when I was still figuring out what I was, I remember there was awful food."

"We won't get any of that," Talho agreed. "Renton, any preferences?"

"Wait as second," Holland interrupted. "I'm choosing where we eat."

"You are not. You have no taste," Talho said simply.

"But-"

"No! Eureka and Renton are back with us for the first time in a year, and you can't even let them choose where they're going to eat?"

"All I was saying was-"

This continued as the pair walked back towards the ward to get baby Charles. The rest of the Gekko crew began to cluster around a small oil fire on the tarmac near the remains of the other Gekko. They sat down in a small circle, and Matthieu had even pulled out a large strip of metal as a chair. Dominic rested, his arms behind his head, in Anemone's lap.

"We don't necessarily have to go get food, you know," Renton whispered, sitting down in the circle. Someone passed him a small cup of apple cider, and he took a sip, passing it on to Eureka. She sat down next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "We could just stay here. I'm sure everything will work out. I mean, we'll have to get up and go back to work pretty soon, but-"

"No, you're right," Eureka agreed, kissing him quietly. The flickering light from the fire danced on her face, and filled her wings with a soft glow.

"What we have here is just fine."

…...

Alright. So there it is, at long last. Before anything else, I'd like to thank a couple people:

Jordan, or Historyman101, for being a great rival/supporter, and giving me something to shoot for. You're technically amazing writing style really had me sweating bullets there for a while. :P

Dominick, or Alaska-sama, for doing the dirty work, and beta reading for me faithfully. My job would have been a lot harder without his help.

And, finally, All of You readers out there, with your kind and encouraging words, but most especially reader Vinyale, for giving me the final push I needed to get back and finally polish this off.

I would also like to state that no, I did not proofread this before posting it. I hope that does not make it unreadable, but I am just too excited to share this with you guys after a year of waiting to put it through a beta reader right now, or even one more day.

Now, as a bonus for making you wait so long, I have a little behind-the-scenes sort of features.

I originally planned this story, of course, to go into a bit more detail about things that I didn't actually end up going into. Firstly, Annika in my original outline was a larger part, and had a connection to pseudo-Dewey, and not necessarily a positive connection to Holland and the group. This was cut for the most part because of worries that it would detract from the overall plot, and because it wasn't really necessary. She is, after all, a side character, and time was much better spent on the Hollands or Dominic and Anemone then her. And besides, I grew to quite like her as having a playfully-hateful relationship with Holland.

Secondly, I was also originally going to have a much longer acclimation period where the two Eurekas and Rentons got to know each other, including a long shopping trip that might have been rather amusing: it was in my head, anyway. However, I realized very early on going into this last writing session that I didn't really want to do any more sidetracking at this point. It was time to get serious with ramping up the action to the climax, as we were already over 50,000 words into the story. I am confident that this change ended up delivering a better story, and a better plot-diagram for you major critics out there.

Smaller things that were left out, for various reasons: a dream trip back to explain more about the culture that traveled between the worlds. I came very close to putting this in and having a much larger section or story fully realizing them, however in the end I felt they worked much better as a mysterious, long lost civilization than a breathing one. Also, Holland fighting Holland due to some kind of misunderstanding. I very badly wanted TV Holland to beat down his movie counterpart, and once again I was very close to trying to bring this about, but in the end it required too much contrived shifting around of pieces, and then the feeling of it being not at all natural would spoil the whole thing. Besides, I quite like having Holland miss the entire meeting with the other crew. Loser Holland is one of my favorite Hollands.

Finally, I debated for a time what exactly the villain was going to be. I am of a very firm opinion, however, that stories don't necessarily need any one villain. At least, not a traditional one. People have different motivations for what they do, whether we call them good or bad people, and even the original Dewey thought that what he was doing was the correct thing, from his perspective. That being said, I did consider actually bringing Dewey back in flesh and blood. That was the original intent of Renton's dream sequence in one of the earlier chapters: to introduce that plotline. However, as with some of the other things, not only did it feel cheap – as his death is well depicted and well-deserved in the series – but also because great villains like Dewey don't really need to come back. They had a good enough run the first time. Annika was my second idea of who could take the villain role, albeit under some kind of otherworldly influence. While fleshing out that influence, I discovered that really, the whole villain of the entire series – both movie and TV show – is the concept of war, in and of itself, and of its inevitability. This fleshed itself out into a character that was more a force of nature than a living being. I have been influenced, I freely admit, by the depiction of forces of otherworldly concepts in stories such as The Sandman, but I thought that it would work very well as a villain here. If you think about it, it's what's been haunting Renton, Eureka, and the Gekkostate since day 1.

I hope I provided an interesting and insightful glimpse into some of my thinking behind parts of the story I thought you'd want to know about, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the reviews; contrary to popular belief, I do read them. :)

Once again, I would like to thank you for your patience and continued support, and I am proud to say that we can all finally put that 'completed' section in the story description.

Here's looking at you, internet,

0ranos


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